GREENFIELD — With approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals, Dollar Tree can proceed with its plans to move into 107 Main St., the former Rite Aid location, albeit with smaller signs than the company had hoped for.
The board voted unanimously on Thursday to approve Dollar Tree’s special permit application to install signs on the building and replace the Rite Aid pylon sign along the sidewalk, with an amendment reducing the approved size of the signs on the building to no larger than 24 inches tall.
Dollar Tree and sign contractor Craig Murphy had originally requested that the letters be 36 inches tall, the same height as the Rite Aid sign, and the standard size for Dollar Tree brand signs. However, board members said that despite the proposed lettering being the same height as Rite Aid’s lettering, the sign looked much larger.
The sign for the Rite Aid, which has been closed for more than a year, was 36 inches tall by 17 feet, 4 inches wide. Dollar Tree requested signs that were 36 inches tall by 32 feet wide. Murphy said the signs would be wider because the Dollar Tree brand uses a different font than Rite Aid, and the name is a few letters longer.
“I believe in the end, we’re just talking really about those three letters and whether or not that would be OK,” Murphy said. “The letters are green, a very pleasant green in my opinion. It would go really well with Greenfield and all the trees in the surrounding area.”
One sign would go on the side of the building that faces the street, and another would go on the side facing the parking lot. Murphy said the increased size would allow for better visibility on the street, and make it easier for drivers to know where the store is and when they need to make the turn into the parking lot.
“A typical person requires a minimum of 445 feet to see the sign, comprehend it, decide how to react to it, confirm the surroundings and make the necessary adjustments: lane change, slowing down, etcetera, to exit the roadway safely,” Murphy said. “It takes 12 seconds to cover this distance traveling at 35 mph. … If the motorist has insufficient time available, this could cause them to react too quickly, increase the likelihood of making an error in judgment and potentially cause a traffic accident.”
Planning Director Ella Wise wrote to the ZBA that under the city’s zoning ordinances, businesses are allowed one frontage sign, up to 45 square feet, and one freestanding sign up to 25 square feet, no taller than 10 feet, by right. Dollar Tree was proposing two signs, each 96.31 square feet, and replacing the 25.2-square-foot freestanding sign.
Board member Debra Gilkes said she took a drive down Main Street to take a look at the existing signs. She agreed that many of the signs are too small to read while driving, but she felt the proposal was still too large to be considered.
“I think what they’re asking for is too far out of our zoning laws to allow it to be approved in the size they are requesting,” Gilkes said.
In a memo to the board, Building Inspector Mark Snow noted that the sign is too large for Main Street, and suggested its size and illumination could be a distraction for drivers.
“The applicant is requesting a wall-mount sign that equals 96.31 square feet — 45 square feet is allowed by Greenfield’s zoning ordinance,” Snow wrote. “The request is more than twice the size allowed by right.”
Mayor Ginny Desorgher also wrote to the board opposing the sign, citing concerns for the downtown district’s historic character.
“The subject property is located within the Central Commercial Zone District, the heart of Greenfield’s historic downtown. … While I welcome local business activity, permitting two 96-square-foot signs, each more than double the allowable size, is excessive and out of character with Greenfield’s historic downtown architecture and visual identity,” Desorgher said. “The scale and face-lit channel letter design proposed for these oversized signs would disrupt the aesthetic of our Main Street corridor.”
She added that allowing the sign would set an “undesirable precedent for future commercial development” nearby.
Keith Neal, a project manager with Dollar Tree, said the size of the proposed signs was consistent with the store’s branding, noting that the signs at all other Dollar Trees in the region are that height. He added that the city had previously approved signs larger than the zoning allowed for Rite Aid, and that Dollar Tree was proposing letters the same height as what was previously approved.
“Our sign is just longer,” Neal said. “It fills the space more.”
Board members also expressed concern about the brightness of the signs, to which Murphy said dimmers could be installed and the signs could be adjusted as needed.
After discussion and looking at a mockup of what a sign with 24-inch-tall letters would look like on the building, the board voted to approve the special permit for the signs, with the amendment requiring that the letters be no taller than 24 inches.
“If this was, say, next to Applebee’s, set that far away from the road on this huge straightaway, that would be one thing, but this is kind of a busy, dense downtown,” board member Mark Maloni said. “It’s right there on the sidewalk and it just feels a lot. The 24-inch, this entire table breathed a sigh of relief when we saw that sign.”
Wise said the Planning Board is set to consider Dollar Tree’s plans in a yet-to-be-scheduled site plan review.
