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Cold Spring Adopts New Rules on Signage
Final budget will result in 5.56% tax increase
by Michelle Woods
In a 3-2 vote, the Village of Cold Spring Board of Trustees passed additions to the signage code for the Historic District at a public hearing during their weekly workshop on April 24, 2007.
According to the new code, residents in the Historic District of the Village will be able to erect some small non-commercial and commercial signs on their private property without making an application to the Architectural and Historic District Review Board, and other larger signs will be permitted, if they conform to code, after making an application to the Village through the Village Clerk, Mary Saari. This will allow the Village to grant permission to conforming signs within the 72-hour window mandated by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon.
After a robust debate, the Board decided that residents could now erect signs on their private property, without notice or application to the Village Clerk, of up to a total of 9 square feet, with no one sign being more than 4 square feet in size. Signs of up to 3 square feet containing commercial copy can also be erected on private property without a permit. Trustee Seth Gallagher and some Villagers present were keen that the final amount would allow the theoretical erection of at least three political signs during campaigns without recourse to applying for a permit from the Village. Any non-commercial signs totaling a larger square footage will require a permit; residents will apply to the Village Clerk and will have a total of 180 days to display the sign, with a further 30 days allowed upon renewal.
All commercial signs larger than 3 square feet and no larger than 12 square feet, erected on private property will require a permit that will be issued by the Village Clerk for a period of 90 days, a period of time which the Board felt would allow shop-owners to make an application through the Architectural and Historic District Review Board for permanent, approved signage.
Non-commercial and commercial signs of up to 3 square feet per 50 feet of lot frontage can be placed on Village property without a permit subject to some limitations (i.e. they must be non-illuminated; they can't obstruct sidewalks and hydrants; they can't be erected in or adjacent to public parks, etc.). Any larger signs will need to go through the permit process. This will require an application form and a copy of the sign or the actual sign being handed in at the Village Office to the Village Clerk.
The debate amongst the Board centered round how to allow enough room in the code to allow for free-speech signs whilst maintaining the integrity of the Historic District by keeping some control over the size and aspect of the signs erected. Trustee Seth Gallagher felt that imposing a too restrictive code could impose on free-speech rights arguing that it was "a right that people exercise and you're [potentially] limiting that" but Trustee Karen Dunn felt that the Board should not allow too much room, i.e. 9 square feet of signage space, without residents applying for a permit, and said that the Historic District had "certain standards and we shouldn't ignore those standards." Mayor Anthony Phillips felt that there should not be a problem in residents notifying the Village about any erection of signs, as "most of the people who've put up signs [in the past] have called the Village." Referring to the maintenance of aesthetic standards in the Historic District, he said that "the only way you can have control is if people come into the office." Taking into account the need for free-speech rights and for keeping the integrity of the Historic District, as well as the deadline imposed by the Judge to change the code, Trustee Ed Mancari asked the Board "what can you live with?"
Trustees Karen Dunn and John Teagle were the two dissenting votes: Karen Dunn felt that 9ft square was too much room for noncommercial signage without need of a permit and John Teagle felt that giving 3ft square for permanent commercial signage on Village and private property meant that "we're changing the historic district's purview" and that the Village would no longer have control over what many signs would look like. While agreeing with their points, the Mayor voted for the additions, saying that "we have to move forward." Seth Gallagher stated that "we're giving free speech but protecting the way [the signs] look." Villagers present felt there should be room for erecting some free-speech signs without need for a permit, warning that too strict limitations may have "a chilling effect" on residents' rights.
A final public hearing on the Village Budget was held before the signage hearing. The final total for estimated expenditures will be $1,480, 263 and the tax increase from the prior year will be 5.56%. Trustee Ed Mancari noted that part of the tax increase was due to the Firemen's Service Award which was increased following a Village referendum in 2005.
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