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Zoning board approves Starbucks drive‑thru menu boards with lighting controls after neighbor objections
Summary
After hours of public comment from nearby Meadow Street residents about nighttime light spill, the Town of Newburgh Zoning Board approved a Starbucks drive‑thru’s digital menu boards and order canopy Sept. 25 with conditions requiring dimming specifications, sign cut sheets and that the signs be off when the store is closed; the applicant also agreed to request additional screening from the landlord.
The Town of Newburgh Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 25 approved area‑variance relief for two drive‑thru menu boards and a 10‑foot order canopy for a planned Starbucks at the Mid‑Valley Mall, but attached three conditions aimed at limiting light spill into nearby residential yards.
Jennifer Mazawey, an attorney for the sign applicant, presented photographs and site plans showing the two drive‑thru boards (a pre‑menu board and a three‑panel menu) and an illuminated order screen under a canopy. She told the board the signs are internally illuminated LED displays that dim automatically and are shown on the Planning Board‑approved site plan from December 2023. A Lite Brite Signs representative said the digital boards include automatic dimming and fail‑safe functionality.
Neighborhood members from Meadow Street expressed concern that the new illuminated boards and canopy lights would be visible from their backyards and dining rooms once trees lose leaves in winter. "I will see all the illumination from all of your signs, especially when I'm sitting in my dining room," said resident Charlene Woodhull. Ellen McCullom told the board she had reviewed Town illumination standards and asked how the project would meet them.
Board members and town staff pressed the applicant on technical controls and mitigation. Code Compliance officer Joseph Mattina said plan review would address illumination specs; board counsel noted the menu boards were shown on the Planning Board site plan but that the sign ordinance does not expressly list "menu boards," so the panels were properly before the ZBA as an area variance. The board focused its decision on balancing the applicant's need to operate an efficient drive‑thru against the neighbors’ concerns about nighttime light.
The ZBA approved the sign variance on a unanimous vote with the following conditions: the applicant must submit sign cut sheets and a dimming schedule to Code Compliance showing automatic dimming characteristics; the drive‑thru signage must be powered off when the Starbucks store is closed; and the applicant will formally request that the mall landlord add screening plantings (evergreen screening) to mitigate off‑site visual impacts and report back to the town. The ZBA recorded the approval as conditioned, and Code Compliance will verify compliance before a sign permit is issued.
Starbucks representative David Shipe said on the record that the site’s landscaping plan includes planting and that lighting control technology exists to lower luminance levels automatically as dusk falls; Lite Brite's representative added that the units automatically dim at night. Ms. Mazawey agreed to provide technical cut sheets and a formal dimming schedule that the Board can attach to its decision.
Why it matters: The approval lets the drive‑thru proceed toward final permitting, but the conditions give residents a clear set of technical and procedural protections — lighting specifications and an operational commitment to power off signage when the store is closed — that the town can enforce.
What’s next: The applicant will provide sign specifications and the dimming schedule to Code Compliance, confirm operational procedures for powering signage off when the store closes, and report to the ZBA on whether the landlord commits to additional screening plantings.
