BERLIN — Downtown merchants turned out in mass at the Monday meeting of the Berlin Town Council to register their discontent with actions by the Historic District Commission to curb the use of sandwich board signs and café tables along Main Street. Joining that dissent were Mayor Gee Williams and Town Administrator Anthony Carson.

The following morning, Planning and Zoning Director Chuck Ward, the town liaison to the commission resigned, after reportedly being given the option to depart on his own or be dismissed.

Citing editorials and news articles in this paper, Williams and Carson took issue with the commission assumption of jurisdiction over the placement and appearance of moveable structures and sought guidance from Town Attorney David Gaskill.

Williams commented on the efforts the town had been taking to create a business-friendly environment for the downtown Main Street sector.

“The idea of restricting or outlawing sandwich board signs is something that is a major step backward,” he said.

Ward said the town was undergoing a revision of its comprehensive plan and that a revision of the zoning code would likely be a part of that process.

Williams asked if Ward had discussed the matter with Carson or Public Works Director Michael Gibbons. When Ward responded that the issue had been the topic of discussions, Carson interjected that the decision to bar the signs would not have been his opinion.

During an April 17 special meeting, the Historic Commission discussed the practice of the owners of the Globe Theater and Si’Culi restaurant placing café tables along the sidewalks in front of their establishments.

Town Councilmember Lisa Hall told the commission that she was concerned that the tables might hinder passage by wheelchairs and strollers, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the meeting’s minutes. At the time of the meeting, the commission was waiting to receive advice from the town attorney on the legal ramifications of the sidewalk tables.

In a separate April 19 letter, the commission ended an agreement allowing the owner of Town Center Antiques to place the store’s sandwich board on Main Street.

“The Commission found that the sign’s quality and design were not consistent with other signs in the District, but did provide the allowance of the sign for the remainder of the 2012 calendar year,” the letter said.

Ward said in the letter, “As the enforcement officer for the Commission, it is my duty to advise you to no longer display your sidewalk sign until you have returned to the Commission to either receive approval for the existing sign [or] approval of a new sign.”

At that time, it was expected that the staff would recommend the sandwich board signs be eliminated in the new draft of the town’s zoning code, based on the discussions of the commission.

According to Williams, the commission had no authority to change the town’s zoning code to disallow the signs. Fixed sidewalk structures do fall under the purview of the commission, however, according to Gaskill.

Williams said later the fear of the business community was not based on real information and that the commissioner’s questions never came through the proper channels to the town employee with the responsibility for the decision. The commission should have been given more guidance and they were not, he said.

At the council’s direction Gaskill has drafted a proposed ordinance to formalize the town’s policy on the use of café tables and signs to ensure that they comply with the zoning code and Americans with Disabilities Act. The proposed ordinance is expected to be presented for a first reading during the May 28 council meeting.

According to a copy the proposal, changes (italicized for emphasis) pertaining to sidewalk obstructions would direct that:

It shall be unlawful except with the permission of the Mayor and Council for the owner or occupant of any premises within the corporate limits of the town to place, erect or store, or to cause or permit to be placed, erected or stored on the sidewalk abutting his premises any articles, chattels, tables and chairs or merchandise of any type, except that this article shall not apply to placing or maintaining on said portion of the sidewalk any scales or weighing devices, stands for the use in selling newspapers or stone flower boxes.

The mayor and council shall not permit any articles, chattels, tables and chairs or merchandise of any type to be placed on a sidewalk unless said obstructing items comply with and meet the minimum sidewalk accessibility standards contained in the Maryland State Highway Administration’s accessibility policy and guidelines for pedestrian facilities along state highways, June 2010 edition.

Any sidewalk sign permitted to be placed in a commercial district pursuant to Chapter 108, Article X, Section 108-91 of the Town Code shall be exempt from the requirement of seeking permission of the mayor and council for the placement of said sidewalk sign; but shall comply with and meet the minimum sidewalk accessibility standards contained in the Maryland State Highway Administration’s accessibility policy and guidelines for pedestrian facilities along state highways, June 2010 edition.

During Monday’s council meeting, Councilmember Paula Lynch had questioned Gaskill’s assertion that the commission had no jurisdiction over the street signs and had asked Ward to research the similar practices by other historic district commissions. She said she had noticed some signs that clearly did not meet the town’s standards.

Ward had said that when he came into the position as planning director the commission granted approval of the town signs.