Chichester Planning Board
Minutes of Meeting
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Members Present: Vice-Chairman Tom Jameson, Stan Brehm, Tom Houle, Allen Mayville, Richard Moore, Alan Williams, Mike Williams, and Secretary Jamie A Pike.
Vice-Chair Jameson called the meeting to order at 6:35pm.
Pursuant to RSA 673:11, Chairman Jameson appointed Mike Williams as a voting member for the purposes of this meeting.
The minutes of December 19, 2013 were reviewed. A motion was made by Mr. Mayville and seconded by Mr. Brehm to approve the minutes as written.
Vice-Chair Jameson opened the Public Hearing upon Zoning Amendment #1.
Are you in favor of the adoption of Amendment No. 1 as proposed by the Planning Board for the town zoning ordinance as follows: To repeal and replace in its entirety Article 3 Section 7: Signage and to repeal Article 3 Section 18: Outdoor Lighting; Paragraph C,IV: Lighted Advertising Signs?
Mr. Douglas Hall submitted a report of his comments and concerns regarding the published amendment. (Attached)
One of Mr. Hall’s concerns is the safety of the travelling public. Mr. M Williams asked Mr. Hall what specific evidence he had that signage and more specifically electronic signage was the direct cause of vehicle accidents. Mr. Hall said he knew of two accidents at the “4 Corners” that he believed were related to the distraction of drivers reading the moving sign formerly at the Hess station. Mr. Hall also expressed that he believed the sole purpose of signage should be for display of the business name and address and not for the purpose of advertisement of products.
Mr. Jonathan Halle, owner of Chichester Commons, explained his plight to Mr. Hall. His tenant businesses have limited visibility due to the lack of adequate signage.
Another discussion revolved around the time a static electronic message should be displayed. Mr. Hall offered 12 hours. The mathematical formula used to determine the 8 second and 16 second times was explained. A person with 20/20 vision can with acuity see a 6” letter at 300 feet. At a rate of speed of 50 mph, the time it takes to travel 300 feet is 4.11 seconds. To make it more pronounced that a traveler not be distracted by more than potentially 2 displays, the time was doubled. And again this time was doubled for the CV zone as this area is more easily congested and the rate of speed diminishes to 40 mph taking 5.11 seconds to travel the aforementioned 300 feet. There was discussion among the board members about 5 minutes, 15 minutes, hourly and so forth. But no reasonable and factual
basis could be used to determine another time interval other than those proposed. It was also determined that the period of 8 seconds would be used for the entirety of the commercial corridors for ease of enforcement.
Other discussion included:
replacing section 3 paragraphs n & o with the following.
n) Banners
1) Shall be absent of any alpha-numeric message; or
2) Shall be limited to an alpha-numeric message of one (1) word; and
3) Shall be no greater than 30 square feet in area; and
4) Shall be supported by a freestanding vertical pole not exceeding sixteen (16) feet in height; and
5) Shall be limited in quantity to not more than five (5) per parcel.
Adding an exception to section 5 Paragraph for those signs explicitly permitted in the above amended section.
a) Signs which physically or visually move, rotate, or create an illusion of movement; or which have parts or surfaces that physically or visually move, rotate, or create the illusion of movement except those that are specifically permitted under section 3 paragraph n of this ordinance.
b) Signs which emit audible sound or noise;
Being no further discussion a motion was made by Mr. Mayville and seconded by Mr. M Williams to adjourn the meeting at 9:00pm. Motion Passes.
Respectfully submitted,
Jamie A Pike Not approved until signed.
Thomas Jameson, Vice-Chair
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