Electronic Signs An Issue For Historic Districts
The most recent New Hampshire towns to struggle with the issue of electronic signs are Meredith and Moultonboro. Some residents in those towns are not happy about the notion that new electronic signs may be employed by local businesses.
In Moultonboro, the issue came to the forefront after a real estate company erected an electronic sign to advertise its services.
I’m quite familiar with this issue since a town in this area is also dealing with exactly the same issue and it is a struggle that has been going on for a couple of years now.
A real estate company is also at the center of the controversy in this area and despite the company having lost a court battle and being told to take the sign down, instead they have appealed to a higher court and the sign remains in operation in the meanwhile.
I happen to agree with the residents that want these kinds of signs kept out of their towns. There is a place for signs like that, places with names like Nashua and Manchester.
I agree with the person who was quoted in the Concord Monitor article on this subject who said, “When you’re trying to sell rural New Hampshire and make it look like a Vegas strip, I think it’s an oxymoron.”
Someone else made the argument that local businesses need support and that banning electronic signs might contribute to putting them out of business.
I agree that local businesses need support, but suggesting that the lack of an electronic sign would put someone out of business is ridiculous. Any business that fails due to the inability to put up an electronic sign was going to fail on its own, with or without an electronic sign.
