Planning board approves illuminated wall sign, grants conditional use permit for 11 Stickney Avenue

The Concord City Planning Board on Oct. 15 approved an internally illuminated 72.93-square-foot wall sign for the redevelopment at 11 Stickney Avenue, granting both architectural design review (ADR) approval and a conditional use permit (CUP) after a public hearing and a staff completeness determination.

Staff read the application on the record and recommended the board find the application complete, declare it not a development of regional impact and open a public hearing. Scott Albertson of First Sign, who addressed the board, said the design was placed to preserve an existing historic New Hampshire Highway Department granite sign and to maximize visibility "from Stickney as well as the highway." Albertson also described the sign as internally illuminated with LEDs.

The Planning Board voted to adopt staff findings of fact and grant ADR approval "as submitted" for a new 72.93-square-foot internally illuminated building sign at 11 Stickney Avenue. The board then voted to grant the conditional use permit to allow the sign above the first-level windows, citing evidence that the criteria of "section 28.94 b" had been or would be met and adopting the staff recommended precedent and subsequent conditions. The board recorded the motions as carried; specific vote tallies were not provided in the record.

Why this matters: The sign was tied to a larger residential redevelopment of the former highway garage at 11 Stickney Avenue; because the proposed wall sign sits above the level typically allowed, it required a CUP in addition to ADR. Approval lets the applicant proceed with permitting for the approved signage plan under the conditions the board adopted.

The board closed the public hearing after questions about illumination and mounting details and granted both ADR and the CUP subject to the stated conditions. The applicant indicated Building 11 of the redevelopment is opening soon.