Town of Nantucket, MA
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2023-11-07
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Division 2 Town Regulations
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Chapter 340 Signs
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Article I General Provisions; Enforcement
- Ethics
- Ch ETH Ethics
- Bylaws
- Administrative Legislation
- Ch 1 General Provisions
- Ch 2 Administrative Procedures
- Ch 11 Committees
- Ch 12 Council for Human Services
- Ch 19 Finances
- Ch 21 (Reserved)
- Ch 25 Liability, Municipal
- Ch 26 False Private Alarms
- Ch 27 Buses
- Ch 33 Personnel
- Ch 34 Domestic Partnerships
- Ch 38 Select Board
- Ch 40 Town Collector and Town Treasurer
- Ch 41 Board of Sewer Commissioners
- Ch 42 Solid Waste Enterprise
- Ch 44 Town Meetings
- Ch 45 Elections
- Ch 46 Town Property, Conveyance of
- General Legislation
- Ch 53 Airport Approach Zone
- Ch 54 Alcoholic Beverages
- Ch 55 Animals
- Ch 56 Beaches, Regulation of Motor Vehicles on
- Ch 57 Bicycles and Mopeds
- Ch 58 Car Rental Agencies, Registration of
- Ch 64 Camping
- Ch 66 Coastal Areas and Open Spaces, Protection of
- Ch 67 Coastal Properties Owned by Town, Management of
- Ch 69 (Reserved)
- Ch 86 Health Regulations
- Ch 88 Junk, Metals and Secondhand Merchandise, Sale of
- Ch 91 (Reserved)
- Ch 94 Loitering
- Ch 95 Marijuana
- Ch 97 Merchandise and Wares, Display of
- Ch 98 Motorized Passenger Devices
- Ch 99 Nantucket and Madaket Harbor Watersheds
- Ch 100 Nantucket Housing Needs Covenant Program
- Ch 101 Noise
- Ch 102 Outdoor Lighting
- Ch 103 (Reserved)
- Ch 104 Abandoned Vehicles
- Ch 105 Peace and Good Order
- Ch 107 Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Vendors
- Ch 108 Civil Fingerprinting
- Ch 113 Poles and Wires, Removal of
- Ch 114 Public Water Supply Use Restrictions
- Ch 117 Roofs, Noncombustible
- Ch 120 Sewers and Wastewater Facilities
- Ch 122 Shellfish, Taking of
- Ch 123 Short-Term Rentals
- Ch 124 Signs; Satellite Dishes; Rooflines
- Ch 124A (Reserved)
- Ch 125 Solid Waste Disposal
- Ch 125A Single-Use Plastics
- Ch 126 Street Numbers, Regulating
- Ch 127 Streets and Sidewalks
- Ch 128 Excavation and Trench Safety
- Ch 129 (Reserved)
- Ch 132 Trees and Shrubs
- Ch 135 Fuel Storage Tanks
- Ch 136 Wetlands
- Ch 137 Wharves and Waterways, Town
- Ch 139 Zoning
- Ch 140 Right to Farm
- Ch 141 Stretch Energy Code
- Town Regulations
- Ch 203 Airport Regulations
- Ch 207 Alcoholic Beverage Licensing and Regulation
- Ch 211 Animals
- Ch 216 Beaches
- Ch 220 Biodegradable Packaging
- Ch 223 Board of Health Administration
- Ch 225 Boats and Boating
- Ch 229 Body Art Establishments and Practitioners
- Ch 234 Cemeteries
- Ch 238 Comprehensive Permits
- Ch 252 Fertilizer
- Ch 256 Filming and Videotaping on Public Lands
- Ch 260 Fishing and Shellfishing
- Ch 265 Food Service Establishments
- Ch 272 Grills, Charcoal and Gas
- Ch 278 Harbors and Waterways
- Ch 283 Housing Standards
- Ch 288 Hummock Pond Watershed
- Ch 303 Madaket Harbor Watershed
- Ch 309 Nantucket Harbor Watershed
- Ch 316 Pedicabs
- Ch 327 Septic Systems
- Ch 332 Sewage Disposal and Treatment
- Ch 336 Sewers
- Ch 338 Short-Term Rental Property
- Ch 340 Signs
- Ch 340 Art I General Provisions; Enforcement
- § 340-1 Findings; bylaw violations and penalties.
- § 340-2 Bylaw effective date.
- § 340-3 Scope and intent.
- § 340-4 General restrictions.
- Ch 345 Smoking and Tobacco Products
- Ch 349 Solid Waste
- Ch 354 Streets and Sidewalks
- Ch 358 Subdivisions
- Ch 361 Surface Water and Groundwater Protection
- Ch 363 Tanks, Underground
- Ch 367 Taxicabs, Charter, Limousine and Tour Vehicles
- Ch 371 Toxic and Hazardous Materials
- Ch 375 Traffic
- Ch 382 Wellhead Protection District
- Ch 386 Wells
- Ch 390 Wetlands Protection
- Ch DLR Town Regulations Disposition List
- Appendix
- Ch A300 General Law Acceptances
- Ch A301 Special Acts
- Ch A302 Charters
- Disposition List
- Ch DL Disposition List
A.
Sign regulation has existed in the historic districts of Nantucket
and Siasconset since 1956 and throughout the Island since 1972. In
1981, the Historic District Commission (HDC) of Nantucket adopted
its first comprehensive set of regulations governing the design and
use of signage across the Island. The Historic District Commission
created a committee, the Sign Advisory Council (SAC), to assist in
the review of all certificate of appropriateness (COA) applications
involving signage. These sign regulations are supplementary to the
architectural regulations and have been amended from time to time
since the early 1970s.
B.
Sign regulation has existed since the passing of Special Acts of
the Massachusetts General Legislature, Chapter 601 in 1955. Section
6 states that
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"The erection or display of an occupational or other sign exceeding
two feet in length and six inches in width or the erection or display
of more than one such sign, irrespective of size, on any lot, building
or structure located within the Old and Historic Nantucket District
or the Old and Historic Siasconset District [changed in 1972 to the
"Historic Nantucket District"] must be approved in advance by the
Historic District Commission. Evidence of such approval shall be a
certificate of appropriateness issued by said Commission."
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C.
Excerpts from Chapter 124, Article I, Signs in Historic Districts, of the Code of the Town of Nantucket, § 124-2 and § 124-3:
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"Any person who violates any of the provisions... of this chapter shall be fined as follows: the penalty shall be $10 for the first offense, $50 for the second offense, and $300 for the third or subsequent offenses. Each day that a violation continues to exist shall constitute a separate offense... Enforcement shall be through the process of noncriminal disposition under MGL c. 40, § 21D and Article II of Chapter 1 of the Code of the Town of Nantucket. Enforcement shall be by any police officer or by an enforcing agent designated by the Historic District Commission."
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Generally, a sign includes any structure, device, letter, word,
model, banner, pennant, insignia, trade flag, or representation used
as, or which is in the nature of, an advertisement, announcement,
or direction. Ideally, signs enhance the architectural features and
proportions of a building and its neighborhood. The HDC guidelines
seek to promote harmonious, respectful, functional, and varied signs.
Signs should express the special character of the associated business
and be of a size that is in scale with the building and surrounding
streetscape.
While not restricting content, signage on Nantucket generally
should not be used to advertise the business or to list specific products
or services. Businesses should advertise and market utilizing other
media, such as websites, newspapers, tourist publications, radio,
and television.
