Swampscott building inspector enforces sign violations

SWAMPSCOTT – After a resident filed a complaint with the building inspector, some of the signs at gas stations in town have been removed.Last week local attorney William DiMento filed a formal complaint with the building inspector regarding a proliferation of what he believes are “illegal signs” in town.Building Inspector Allen Hezekiah, who had 14 days to respond to the complaint, said he visited all the gas stations in town and asked the businesses to remove signs that violated the town zoning bylaw.”One of the gas stations had already seen the article in The Daily Item and had taken down the sign,” he said. “Several of the others were technically in violation of the sign ordinance and they immediately complied with my request to remove the signs.”Hezekiah said it was not necessary to issue any violations because the businesses complied immediately.”I believe I am an educator first and an enforcer second,” he said. “Citations are not necessary when people comply.”DiMento said he’s pleased Hezekiah asked the gas stations to remove the signs that were in violation, but he quickly added there are many other sign violations throughout town.Selectman Jill Sullivan said she has noticed an improvement.”I did notice some of the signs I spoke to Allen (Hezekiah) about have been fixed so that’s a positive outcome,” she said. “Most businesses are compliant once they are made aware of the rules. My concern is with someone who takes it (sign) down for a week then puts it back. That’s when you need a Plan B and have to start issuing citations.”DiMento and Sullivan agreed sign violations might seem trivial to some people but they both said allowing violations of the sign bylaw to go unchallenged is going down a slippery slope.”It’s like noise pollution – you don’t really think about it until it’s out of control,” Sullivan said. “If there’s no control or enforcement people will do anything because they can get away with it and it can get pretty ugly.”DiMento added the proliferation of illegal signs sends the wrong message about the community. He referenced a book entitled “Fixing Broken Windows” that is about stemming the breakdown of communities.”You fix a broken window when it occurs instead of allowing an area to deteriorate until it is full of blight,” DiMento said. “Illegal signs are our broken windows. My whole mission is not to let Swampscott be one of those towns where we ignore blights. Illegal signs are a blight.”Sullivan added the zoning bylaw revisions are not business unfriendly.”They are designed to create an aesthetically pleasing environment,” she said. “Illegal signs create a cluttered look that isn’t conducive to a beautiful downtown.”