A requirement to remove signs and benches from the state’s right-of-way on Main Street may be delayed under a plan by the state Department of Transportation. But the encroachments still must go, said Diane Powell, agency property manager.
“You’re not allowed to have signs in the state right-of-way. Even after the project is complete, you can’t put the signs back up in the street. That’s a federal statute,” Powell said.
Powell recently drafted a proposal that would allow signs to stay in place right up to the time of construction – likely next summer – if property owners also give the state permission to remove them. Without permission to remove the signs, the state will require owners to remove them by Sept. 30.
The proposal for an extension until the time of construction still must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration, Powell said. “This is just something that I’m trying to put together. If it works, we’ll do this on all projects.”
Signs must be removed in advance of DOT paving of Main Street and curb and sidewalk repair. Removing encroachments in the right-of-way like signs, and permitting others like building awnings, is a requirement for the state to receive federal money to pay for rebuilding Main Street.
If property owners don’t remove signs or give the state permission to remove them, their cases could be taken to the state’s attorney general for action, Powell said.
Powell said landowners with encroachments requiring permits have been “very cooperative” on the whole in returning applications. “It’s been very nice.”
At the May 12 planning commission meeting, borough manager Mark Earnest suggested the sign removal might only be temporary.
“What has happened in other communities is that these property owners have removed these items for the duration of the project… Things have a tendency – like vegetation – of regrowing. That’s not an official position of anybody, but this has happened in other communities.”