During the Wednesday April 4 meeting of the Londonderry Planning Board, members were given a presentation on some lighting ideas proposed by Mr. Steer Meats.
Plans were brought forth to the Planning Board for changes to outdoor lighting that didn’t quite fit in the town codes. The idea was to install LED accent lighting on the building façade at Mr. Steer Meats, at 27 Buttrick Road.
The plan was previously been brought to the Heritage Commission and members of that board were comfortable with the lighting change overall.
The the biggest issue with this lighting was that the lights have the ability to change in color.
Rob Burke of Barlo Signs came before the board to make the presentation and get the Planning Boards blessing on the lighting, saying his company has designed the lights on the Mr. Steer building and made sure they would not flash or change colors randomly.
The lights themselves are visible but only when you are close to the property, so they are not blinding when you are driving down Route 102. A protective shield around the lights would also be installed. The only time the lights would change color would be four times a year (seasonally).
The owner of Mr. Steer Meats, Chris George, felt that the new lighting would connect the two buildings (owned by him) visually when people are driving by on Route 102. He fealt that there wasn’t a clear connection with the two buildings.
The lights would be on the Route 102 side of the building and not on the Buttrick Road side.
Planning Board member Ann Chiampa felt that the plan did not meet the town’s lighting regulations.
Member Leitha Reilly was more that a little surprised surprised that the Heritage Commission gave their approval with the aesthetics of the lighting on the building.
After quite a lengthy dicussion on how to vote down the lighting request, the Planning Board voted to deny the application for the lighting to Mr. Steer, because it did not meet town regulations and had a neon look to it
The board felt more comfortable adding a second sign to the second building rather than change the lighting appearance. Ultimately, the board voted against the plan.