Sign scofflaws feel a 'gentle, friendly' clampdown
Billboards may be long gone, but officials see illegal displays sprouting all around town
The sandwich board sitting on the mulched patch of ground outside Lisa Johnson's yoga studio announces: "Tank top arms available here. Some assembly required."
She figures it brings her $80,000 in business a year.
Because her Studio Elle Pilates is on the second floor, she says, the sandwich board is an essential and inexpensive way to advertise her business' existence. "If you take away my board, I either fire two instructors or double my advertising costs," she told a meeting of Coolidge Corner Merchants' Association this month.
As it turns out, however, the sandwich board, which she has used for three years, may be illegal.
Johnson discovered this after listening to Brookline officials explain the town's sign bylaw at the meeting.
After receiving an increasing number of complaints about visual clutter in commercial areas, the town's volunteer Sign Bylaw Committee realized that violations of the law have been proliferating, said Selectwoman Betsy DeWitt. They decided to revisit the law and start "gentle and friendly" actions before moving into enforcement, DeWitt said.
The meeting with the merchants' association was the first shot across the bow. Staff from the Planning Department, which helps businesses design acceptable signs, and the Building Department, which enforces all but the sandwich board issue, were on hand to work with store owners.
At issue is not just freestanding sidewalk signs, but most neon signs, most stores with more than 30 percent of their windows covered in advertisements and posters, and anyone displaying brand names.
The problem with sandwich boards, DeWitt said, is that they often obstruct the public way - a violation of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
"If a disabled person can't get through and chooses to sue, you will get slammed," she told assembled merchants.
Merchants worried about the ban on sandwich boards, but were pleased that town officials had come to them and expressed flexibility.
"For us the story was about a selectman coming to us," said Harvey Bravman, chairman of the merchants association. "This was a much better way of doing things than just citing violators."
The town's bylaw, DeWitt said, was passed in 1967 to eliminate billboards in Brookline.
But it has since branched out into the regulation of such things as how much of a window can be covered in posters and ads, how overhead signs should look, and what kinds of awnings and lighting are permitted.
"The bylaw regulates every permanent sign and device," DeWitt said. "Some things will be more rigidly enforced."
The sign enforcers haven't decided on the kind of notice to give businesses, although the town plans to send general sign law information to every business sometime this summer.
The issue came up when the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority decided to put advertisements in T shelters along Beacon Street. The town researched the ownership of the right-of-way and has since reined in the T's ad campaign.
"We really look at each situation and decide in context," said Michael Shepard, building commissioner. "If you look at slides of Brookline in the 1950s, you see why we have sign bylaws."
Polly Selkoe of the Planning Department, which helps merchants determine what kind of signs are allowed, said she was willing to work with any businessperson to figure out legal alternatives.
The bylaw was last reviewed in the mid-1990s, said Selkoe, who added, "We may want to revise the bylaw further. The Planning Board and Planning Department are sympathetic to the sandwich board."
Details of the sign bylaw are provided in the Planning Board's recently issued "Guide to Brookline Sign and Façade Design," available at the Planning Department.
