The Town of Northborough Design Review Committee on Jan. 9, 2025 finished drafting revisions to the town's sign bylaws and design guidelines, agreeing to specific limits on window wraps and fuel-canopy signs while referring unresolved legal questions about projecting signs to town counsel.

The committee agreed that window wraps may cover an entire storefront window but that no more than 10% of the wrap may contain signage or lettering. "Window wraps may cover the whole window. 10% of the window wrap may include signs. Window wrap design shall be approved by the Design Review Committee before installation," read a committee member during the meeting, reflecting the language the group adopted for the draft.

Why it matters: the changes affect how downtown shops, convenience stores and service businesses may use vinyl or printed films to mask windows while still identifying their businesses. Committee members debated whether wraps should be treated as signs when they include business names or product images; the committee ultimately kept the 10% advertising cap but declined to categorically call wrap material "not a sign."

Discussion and decisions

- Window wraps: Committee members discussed technical differences (static cling vs. adhesive, interior vs. exterior application) and whether a wrap that includes product images should be allowed. After debate, the committee adopted wording that (a) allows wraps to cover whole windows, (b) limits signage on a wrap to 10% of the wrap area, and (c) requires Design Review Committee approval of each wrap design before installation.

- Fuel-canopy signage: Members debated what share of a fuel canopy’s side may be used for a logo. The group moved away from a 10% limit and agreed on a 20% cap for the surface area of each side of a fuel canopy, with allowed content limited to logo, business name or address.

- Painting and glazing: The committee revised a paragraph to clarify that "no sign shall be painted or posted directly on the exterior surface of any wall" except glazing (plate glass, window panes, door glazing). Members agreed to delete an older, ambiguous sentence that had allowed interior posting on glazed surfaces in a way the committee found unclear.

- Neon and illumination: Members agreed to remove a previously proposed prohibition on exposed neon illumination from the draft language (committee consensus during discussion).

- Projecting signs and public right‑of‑way: Committee members raised conflicting concerns about projecting or "blade" signs that overhang sidewalks or the public right‑of‑way. Participants noted state and local property‑line issues and public‑safety concerns (falling signs, snow plows). The committee did not adopt a final change and instead referred the legal question — including whether the bylaw should allow projecting signs over sidewalks and what permit/insurance conditions should apply — to town counsel for guidance.

- Nonconforming signs and addresses: The committee left in place a provision that requires street numbers on nonresidential freestanding signs, and clarified that address numerals do not count against a tenant’s allowed sign square footage up to a capped share (the draft references a 15% maximum for address numerals of allowed sign area).

- Other editorial and housekeeping changes: The committee moved several location and construction provisions for clarity, discussed draft illustrative graphics for the guidelines, and asked staff to consolidate text and deliver a clean draft and a version with tracked changes for the planning board and for committee review.

Quotes

"No sign shall be painted or posted directly on the exterior surface of any wall except glazing," a committee speaker read while proposing the clarified wording for the section on painted signs.

"Window wraps may cover the whole window," another committee member said while reading the agreed language, adding that "Window wrap design shall be approved by the Design Review Committee before installation."

Next steps and outstanding items

Committee members asked staff to fold the agreed edits into the bylaws and design‑guidelines draft, prepare illustrative examples for the public, and circulate the updated text before the planning board hearing. The committee also requested a written opinion from town counsel on projecting signs and on whether and how freestanding or projecting signs that overhang the public right‑of‑way should be permitted and insured. Landscaping rules (stone vs. mulch) were discussed and left to case‑by‑case application and to the design guidelines; the committee did not adopt a new blanket prohibition on landscape stone.

The committee closed the meeting after agreeing to those edits and follow‑up steps.