Milton Planning Board Approves Sign Bylaw for Town Meeting, Allocates Recodification Funds

MILTON -- March 26, 2026, Milton Planning Board advances sign bylaw to Town Meeting and allocates $52,272 across two planning initiatives. The board unanimously closed a public hearing and voted to submit a March 19, 2026 draft sign bylaw to the Select Board, overhauling decades-old sign regulations in Chapter 275 of the town's zoning bylaws, cutting allowed sign area from two square feet per linear foot of facade to one, shifting permit appeals from the Select Board to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and setting new rules for LED and neon illumination. Planning Director Liz Manning presented flow charts developed with Sign Review Committee member Larry Johnson that the board said would also be used at Town Meeting. Separately, the board voted to encumber $27,272 in remaining FY2026 planning study funds for a zoning recodification contract with KP Law, and voted to accept $25,000 in free cash to resume a stalled MAPC economic development study, with members calling to expand the scope to include West Milton and preexisting nonconforming businesses. Member Sean Fahey argued at length that the Planning Board had been improperly excluded from the library parking task force, estimating that 60 structured parking spaces on the Canton Avenue site would cost roughly $5 million including site work, calling a public-private partnership solution "fantasy-like", and the board directed Planning Director Manning to draft comment letters to the Select Board on both the library process and the draft East Milton fire station RFP, which members said failed to reflect public forum support for a lease over a sale.