Signs are cluttering up the Woodstock streetscape, and something needs to be done about it, according to the town’s Commission for Civic Design (CCD).
“We’ve been concerned about signage in Woodstock, and if you compare this town with Rhinebeck, Phoenicia, even New Paltz, our concern is that the town is looking pretty shabby,” CCD chair David Ekroth said during an April 9 presentation to the town bard. The CCD provides support to the sign task force formed in 2023.
“Streets have too many signs, too many non-conforming signs,” Ekroth said. “And we do respect, obviously, that commercial enterprises as well as galleries and so forth need signage, but the sign regulations and the code are pretty clear about how many signs and how large a sign can be.”
Ekroth said businesses should need to get permits for their sign.
Enforcement was another huge problem, he felt. Ekroth showed the board what he called a “very unfortunate” Welcome to Woodstock sign at the gateway of the hamlet, the intersection of routes 375 and 212.
“First of all, it’s a billboard. It’s too large,” Ekroth said. “And if you see right at the very top you’ll see ‘Welcome to Woodstock.’ The sign changes every few weeks. Every month, you’ll see a different one. So I find this to be really poor excuse for a Welcome to Woodstock sign.”
CCD member Graydon Yearick showed examples of businesses displaying multiple signs where town code allows only a single sign under ten square feet per business.
Increasingly popular sandwich-board signs were a safety hazard. “People trip on it. There are a lot of them on the ground,” he said.
Utility poles cluttered with posters posed yet another problem.
“We don’t have any designated billboards, let’s say for current events, and it’s actually illegal and a lot of people find it messy,” Yearick said.
CCD and task force member Geoff Hardin found clutter the big issue.
“Things get lost, and we as a committee don’t feel that you need that kind or that much signage to let people know that you’re open and ready for business and you’re a good place to go in and hang out on a Saturday,: Hardin said. “Most people [who] live in town know where they’re going. I think people walking through town are just confused by too much stuff.”
A sign committee is nothing new to the town. Prior to the pandemic, a similar group reviewed zoning related to signs.
Another group met last summer into the fall, but has been on hiatus. It will be reconvening in the coming weeks.
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