The Bethlehem Town Board has set public hearings on changes to two laws that have been a matter of discussion for weeks.
At its meeting on Wednesday, May 23, the Board set public hearings for changes to the town’s temporary sign law and ethics code. The date and the public can voice opinions on the new drafts of the laws was set for Wednesday, June 13, at 7 p.m.
Changes to the town’s sign law regarding temporary signs have been discussed since December when two residents asked town officials for a more definite sign policy to go along with a long list of zoning amendments. Resident Amanda Fallon, who spoke on behalf of the Hamagrael Elementary PTA Craft Fair Committee, said she was concerned about the fact signs she believed to be permissible were being taken down.
Board members eventually learned because the language of the law did not mention signs on county and state roads some believed it was legal to place signs there. Signs in the right of way on town roads are illegal. Enforcement was also found to be an issue.
The draft law sent to public hearing would allow any signs to be placed on private, residential property 15 feet back from the edge of the road. The temporary signs could not exceed 6 square feet and banners affixed to buildings would be allowed for 30 days.
However, changes to the law previously suggested by Councilman Jeffrey Kuhn that would have allowed temporary signs in the right of way on some designated state and county roads were removed.
“In broad sketch, what the Planning Board found was they did not think that it was a good idea for the town to specifically allow in the right of way of state or county highways,” said Supervisor John Clarkson. “They found this in part after further communications with the state DOT (Department of Transportation) which expressed strong opinion they did not want signs within their right of way … the county Planning Board responded with a similar opinion.”
The draft says temporary signs cannot be placed in the right of way of any road in the town or on town property. Enforcement would also be broadened to give more employees the power to remove illegal temporary signs.
“The prevalence of mass amount of signs throughout the town only happened because we as the town sent the signal we weren’t going to do anything about it,” said Clarkson in response to concerns raised by Councilman Kyle Kotary about the time and manpower needed to take down signs. “If we send a clear signal that we are, there won’t be those numbers of signs there.”
The law does not address the issue of not-for-profit groups wanting to advertise their events in high traffic areas of the town. The board said at a later time perhaps some town land could be given to a not-for-profit group to be designated as advertising space for organizations in Bethlehem.
“But that is a discussion for another time,” added Clarkson.
Board members also made several changes to a draft of an ethics law proposed by the Ethics Advisory Committee.
Completely removed from the draft was a section preventing officers in a political party from serving on boards. All board members felt that section of the law was unnecessary, except for Clarkson. Councilman Kuhn said some could argue it took away First Amendment rights. Town Attorney James Potter recommended a statue of limitations of one year be placed on complaints that come before the ethics board.
Left in the draft was a proposal to bar the children of town officials from working as seasonal employees with the town, which Councilwoman Joann Dawson (who was absent from Wednesday’s meeting) had previously labeled as unfair.
Most board members felt it was unjust to bar a qualified candidate. Clarkson said he previously had no feelings on the matter, but it was an issue that came up among staff during his transitional meetings.
“I personally think we either eliminate that sentence because there are plenty of other practices that are in place with (human resources) and through other hiring practices, as well as other parts of the code which would prevent an elected official from undue influence over seasonal employment … or we include the child of any town employee or elected official,” said Kotary, adding that his preference would be to eliminate the line altogether.
The language will be left in the draft so the board can hear the opinions of the public.
