Needham design board approves PECS Health and Fitness sign, requires removal of temporary window posters

The Needham Design Review Board on June 2 approved a flush-mounted PVC and acrylic dimensional-letter sign for PECS Health and Fitness’ new boxing-focused location at 1450 Highland Avenue, with a condition that temporary, unpermitted window signage be removed before final sign stamping.

Board Chair Mark Losing said the board would approve the proposal "with the condition that all this temporary, unpermitted window signage be removed." The board voted by roll call; the record shows the motion passed unanimously.

Brian, a Signarama representative for the applicant, told the board the sign would be a half-inch-thick PVC panel with half-inch acrylic, laser-cut dimensional letters bolted straight through the face of the panel. He said the sign would not be illuminated.

Board members asked that window posters and other temporary materials be removed after the permanent sign is installed. Felix, a board member, noted he had no objection to the proposed materials or size so long as the temporary window signage is taken down. Another member noted the additional descriptive lines on the sign—"private and semiprivate" above and "adult and youth classes" below—are small (about 3 to 3.5 inches) and that the main word "Boxing" would be about 13 inches tall, and therefore not visually overpowering.

Mark Losing framed the board's concern as a matter of distinguishing identifying signage from promotional text, saying the board is typically "hesitant to approve" promotional verbiage but that the applicant had minimized lettering size and the board would accept it if temporary window materials were removed.

The Design Review Board recorded the roll-call vote as: Steve — yes; Susan — yes; Millie — yes; Felix — yes. The board instructed staff to email a stamped copy of the application reflecting the approval and condition for attachment to the building-permit application, consistent with the Town of Needham building department requirement for electronic permit submissions.

The board also urged the applicant to follow the submission and image requirements posted on the Town of Needham Design Review Board web page for any future applications.

An applicant representative confirmed the temporary window signage likely would be removed once the permanent sign is installed; the board set removal of those items as a condition of approval.

No formal appeals, continuances or requests for additional design revisions were recorded during the discussion.

The board moved on to the next agenda item after the vote.