Archive: Business & Technology

Many people agree that all the little signs sprinkled around the Town of Lansing are, well... ugly.  Wednesday the Town Board heard a plan to eliminate all the little business signs on two major intersections and replacing them with attractive wayfinding signs.  They would be replaced with attractive, slatted, wayfinding signs that businesses can buy onto, helping people find them around town.

"That would give the people that have these signs up now an option," said Code/Fire Enforcement Officer & Building Inspector Lynn Day.  "Once we get this in place the Town would own the sign itself and each business  would buy an individual slat.  (Cayuga Signs estimated) the slat and lettering would be about $40, which is exactly our sign fee."

Day is recommending town-owned signs with space for ten slats placed between two posts.  A business would purchase a slat for about $40 with the business name and an arrow pointing the way.  Lettering on the slats would be about four inches high, large enough to be seen, but small enough to accomodate any business that wants to be on a sign.

He proposed that one sign be places on Triphammer Road just south of Peruville Road, another on East Shore Drive south of Ridge Road, and a third on Ridge Road near the intersection of Brickyard Road.  Once the signs are in place the small signs would be removed and placing individual wayfinding signs would be banned.

Day said that yard signs for things like yard sales and chicken barbecues would still be allowed.

Almost a year ago Town of Lansing officials discovered they did not have a sign law.  The law had inadvertently been repealed when a zoning ordinance was changed in 2005.  That came to light a year ago.  Some Town Board members sought to enact a sign moratorium until a new law could be put in place.  That failed in May, partly on the grounds that it wouldn't take long to enact an actual simple sign law. 

That turned out to be wrong.  Nearly a year later the Board is still not set on the details of the law, though most board members seemed amenable to passing something soon.  If the board does decide to approve a law later this month, it would require a public hearing, so it would not go into effect for at least another month.

The Board discussed other details of the draft law, including allowed number of signs and sizes of signs for businesses in commercial areas versus those in residential areas.  Day said the law can always be amended if a part of it isn't working well for the Town.  He noted that he is the individual responsible for enforcing the law.  He said that businesses can apply for variances if they want signs that exceed the new specifications.

Councilman Robert Cree said that the draft law should be simplified, but other board members noted that it is much simpler in its current form than the previous law.  Day practically begged the board to pass a draft of the law soon so he will have something to enforce.

"The only person that's going to use this is me," he said.  "I'm looking at maybe five to six signs a year for which this document is going to be used.  I would like to get something in place because it's been over a year.  Let's work with it."

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