Tricentennial committee seeks temporary carve‑out to sign bylaw for 2027 celebration

The tricentennial committee presented a proposal on Jan. 26 to use temporary banners and pole-mounted flags to promote Southborough’s 2027 tricentennial events and to recognize sponsors.

Patty (committee vice chair) described three banner types: vertical pole banners for downtown and village nodes (similar to 'hometown‑hero' programs elsewhere), temporary vinyl banners to promote specific events, and sponsor banners that would appear on sponsor property during the tri-centennial. She said National Grid/Verizon permission will be needed for pole banners and that town counsel advised that temporary banners are currently banned by the town sign bylaw; a temporary carve-out or warrant article is the proposed route.

Board members broadly supported the idea in principle but urged careful drafting to avoid opening the poles and hardware to commercial advertising beyond the tricentennial. Several members recommended select-board sponsorship of the bylaw article and suggested coordination with town counsel and the building inspector to prepare a succinct amendment in time for the warrant schedule. Planning staff said the timeline is tight for the spring warrant and suggested drafting a clear temporary exemption (with an explicit sunset) or advancing the request to a future fall Town Meeting if needed.

Next steps: the tricentennial committee will coordinate with town administration, select‑board representative(s) and planning staff to draft an article and sample banner designs; the board signaled general support for a time‑limited carve‑out to permit the tricentennial banners.