BZA continues St. Paul’s sign request to April 10 pending Historic Commission review

St. Paul’s Church (Mount Auburn Street) asked the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals on Feb. 27 for permission to install a building‑mounted identifying and wayfinding sign at roughly 28 feet above grade—higher than the city’s 20‑foot limit. The BZA continued the application to April 10 to await review by the Cambridge Historic Commission.

Tom Graves, the sign vendor, told the board the church seeks a single sign in a masonry frame on a long brick façade to both identify the institution and help visitors find the multiple entrances to the large building complex. The Harvard Square Advisory Committee reviewed the proposal and forwarded a positive recommendation to the BZA; committee members favored a single sign rather than multiple panels. The church’s director of finance and operations, Douglas Lee, told the board the offices and school entrances can be hard for visitors to locate and that staff routinely receive visitors asking directions.

The petitioner seeks relief because the proposed sign location sits higher than the 20‑foot mounting limit in the zoning rules. The vendor described the sign as about 10 feet wide and 22 inches tall; the proposed top is approximately 28 feet above grade. The petitioner reported that the application is on the Historic Commission agenda for March 6, and the board agreed to continue the case to its April 10 meeting so the BZA would have the CHC determination on the record.

Public commenters, including a St. Paul’s parish staffer and a parishioner, supported the sign as a wayfinding and identification improvement. The BZA recorded the continuance and asked the petitioner to file the statutory hearing waiver and to update posted notices per standard continuance conditions.

Votes: motion to continue to 04/10/2025 carried unanimously.