DERRY - The town's efforts to streamline and clarify its sign regulations will continue with a planning board public hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

"If the board approves the changes that night, then they will be forwarded to the town council for its approval," said Derry Planning Director George Sioras.

The planning board held several workshop meetings on the updated sign regulations over the summer and fall in an attempt to craft a unified policy.

"In different zones, there will be certain-sized signs allowed," said Sioras.

The majority of the changes affect signs in commercial and industrial zones, with fewer changes slated for the town's residential zones.

"Do we regulate property for sale signs at all?" asked Town Administrator John Anderson at Monday night's planning board hearing, noting they were not mentioned in the revised sign ordinance.

Sioras said the for-sale signs fall under the current regulation allowing for a temporary 3-square-foot signs in residential zones.

"Really, the issue is the enforcement of that," said Sioras.

The revised sign regulations also include updated language for billboards, political signs and interactive signs.

Another area addressed by the regulations concerns businesses that leave a property but leave signs behind.

During an initial workshop on the sign regulations, the planning board agreed on language that would deem a sign as abandoned if it had been abandoned for 60 days, then allowing the town to contact the sign owner to have them remove it. If the business does not remove the sign after it is notified and it has to be removed by the town, town code enforcement officer Robert Mackey has said the town might be able to put a lien on the building, as it does with some abandoned properties, to get money back when the building is sold.

The planning board's public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5 on the third floor of the Derry Municipal Center.

- - - - - - - -

Adam Swift may be reached at aswift@newstote.com.