NORTH HAVEN

A Wallingford-based business is seeking approval for more billboards to be allowed along Interstate 91, with residents weighing in at two public hearings.

An application to add a new amendment “to add Section 8.15 to create a Billboard Overlay District in IL [Industrial Light]-80 and IG [Industrial General]-80 zoning districts” was brought forth by DeMartino Outdoor Media, owned by Dominic DiMartino. The application presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) would establish three digital billboards in those zoning areas with frontage to I-91.

According to Land Use Administrator Alan Fredericksen, this is not the first time the PZC has received applications for similar billboard districts. The commission deliberated on similar applications in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Attorney Dennis Ceneviva sat with DiMartino at public hearings held on Sept. 11 and Oct. 2. At the former hearing, Ceneviva presented to the PZC signatures of 144 residents and 75 local businesses in North Haven confirming their support of the application that “acknowledges the need for digital billboard advertising as a crucial factor in their desired or continued success,” said Ceneviva.

DiMartino told the PZC that, with approval, his family-owned business would more greatly support North Haven commerce through affordable digital billboards. Ceneviva also cited post-COVID pandemic-based needs for local businesses to advertise their brands and contribute to economic growth in town.

The development standards for billboards were presented to the PZC by engineer Wayne Violette. He referred to the application on how billboards advertising various events and organizations in North Haven can be appropriately positioned along I-91 while impacting “as minimally as we possibly can.”

According to the application, illuminated digital billboards in an overlay district would be restricted to I-91 and must be located no more than fifteen feet from a property with frontage to the highway. Maximum billboard height and area would be restricted to 35 feet and 900 square feet, respectively, with a minimum lot area of 4 acres. They “shall not be located within two hundred feet of any public park, playground, playground or cemetery; nor shall said billboard be located within five hundred feet of a residential district.”

DiMartino said illumination levels of digital billboards would be controlled by an onboard computer that “competes with the ambient light” and does not provide too much distraction when it is dark outside.

“During the daytime, when the sun is the brightest, the board is going to be running at 80%, 90%—close to maximum capacity. But at nighttime or dusk, when it starts to compete less against ambient light, the onboard computer has sensors, and it will start to shut the board down,” said DiMartino. “That’s one of the benefits with digital is that it does adjust.”

These standards are also meant to align with the application’s statement of purpose that “Billboards are elements of the urban landscape identifying businesses” and that the regulations are intended to “promote, preserve, enhance, and protect, the public, safety, and welfare” of North Haven.

Given dimensional and locational standards, Violette told the PZC that digital billboards would then be restricted to three in total in the overlay district. DiMartino added that these standards make the application more acceptable compared to previous applications.

Supporters of the amendment who spoke at the two public hearings include Ray Andrewsen, executive director of the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce, representing local commerce in North Haven and Wallingford.

“The Chamber is supportive of the DiMartino Outdoor Media plans to erect billboard signage along I-91 in North Haven and the multiple events which transpire in North Haven that new billboard can provide a platform for wider advertising opportunities along this busy interstate corridor,” said Andrewsen at the Sept. 11 hearing.

Some residents at both hearings did not agree that the amendment would be able to realize its intention “to diminish any possible distraction to traffic, minimize any potential visual concerns” or preserve North Haven’s landscape and “urban design fundamentals.” Some felt that the billboards would be both aesthetically unpleasing and a disturbance to public health. Fredericksen said these disagreements amounted to a “philosophical difference, not a technical” one.

“The people who were opposed were not really focused on this as an economic development thing. They were totally focused on it being a question of the appearance and the distraction and the light level being a potential disturbance,” elaborated Fredericksen.

Resident Mary White spoke to the PZC at the Sept. 11 hearing in regard to disagreements about the overlay district’s statement of purpose. She also mentioned the potential the application has for opening the door to large advertising companies to come into town and make a profit.

“Please protect the public health, safety, and welfare. Protect the environment, protect the character of the town by voting ‘no’ to the Billboard Overlay District,” said White. “One digital billboard is too many...I don’t see how this doesn’t open the door for Clear Channel for advertising, OUTFRONT Media, etc., for the big guys to come in. This is about money; make no mistake about it.”

The PZC saw at the Oct. 2 session that the application for the overlay district did not change in language and that similar voices of support and concern were raised.

The PZC will hold a deliberation session on the amendment at its next meeting on Nov. 13.