Bedford Officials to Decide on Sign Ordinance

Bedford officials expect to meet and discuss the town’s sign ordinance next month.

Steve Fraietta, the town building inspector, and William O’Keefe, the town code enforcement officer, said  that they expect to meet with the town board next month to discuss an ordinance that prevents property owners from placing signs off their property.

The issue came up during Tuesday’s town board meeting when Gwenn Brant, owner of Daisy Hill Farm on West Patent Road, complained that she was issued a warning for having a sign for her farm stand at the intersection of West Patent Road and Route 172. Because her farm is located about a mile away from the intersection, Brant said the sign is the only way to get the attention of motorists passing by.

“At this point, we’re not violating anyone for signs,” O’Keefe said. “We’re going to wait until we meet with the town and see what they want us to do.”

Fraietta said the sign ordinance was designed to prevent clutter in the town. There have been at least two businesses in Mount Kisco that  have posted signs in the town and the John Jay Homestead, located in Katonah, has also been given a verbal warning for placing signs away from its property.

“It’s a beautiful town,” Fraietta said. “We don’t want to see a proliferation of signs cluttered all over the place.”

Fraietta and O’Keefe said that they didn’t want to see farms or businesses like Brant’s hurt by the ordinance.

“But if we do it for one person than we have to do it for everyone,” O’Keefe said. “That’s why need to sit down and try to come to a resolution that’s fair. We see their point, but it’s not up to us decide to decide what the law is. That is up to the planning and zoning boards.”

Brant is proposing that the sign ordinance be changed to allow local farms to put up signs from May to October. The farms could create up to three signs, but they wouldn't be able to place them more than two miles from the farm entrance. The signs would only be displayed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Brandt's proposal.

 

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