Halfmoon baker says town law costs jobs
HALFMOON (Jan. 20) — With the economy as bad as it is, you would think local governments would do what they could to help small businesses and save jobs.
Not the town of Halfmoon, according to Dolce and Biscotti owner Mary Baldi-Fron. She said that Halfmoon’s sign ordinance, prohibiting A-frame signs, has severely hurt her business — causing a 75% decline and forcing her to lay off 3 employees and cut everyone else’s hours.
Dolce and Biscotti owner Mary Baldi-Fron displays some of the citations she has received in a battle with Halfmoon over its sign ordinance.
Unfortunately for Baldi-Fron, the sign was in violation of the sign ordinance, enacted last August. She said all of her efforts to reach a compromise with the town were for naught.
“We went to every single board meeting. No matter how we presented to them they shot it down,” Baldi-Fron said. “They don’t care about business.”
Not so, Halfmoon Supervisor Mindy Wormuth said — adding the town’s two big concerns are safety and aesthetics.
“Because Route 9 is a state road, we can’t allow any signs in the state right-of-way,” she said. Even on non-state road, the town is concerned about signs distracting drivers. As for aesthetics, “we want an uncluttered look.”
Wormuth said that — as a businesswoman — she proposed allowing limited use of A-frame signs but “the majority of the board refused to consider it.” She said she thought the board was concerned that in a plaza with 9 stores you could possibly get a marquee sign and 9 individual signs.
Instead the board allowed increased square footage for plazas’ marquee signs. But it is up to the plazas’ owners whether they want to spend the money to replace their old signs with new ones that take advantage of the larger size.
“There are a few plazas that have less than optimal placement,” Wormuth said. “I’ve had my planners work with those plazas.”
Because Baldi-Fron continued to display her sign, she now faces fines of up to $250 per infraction and a date at the town court before Wormuth’s brother-in-law, Judge Lester Wormuth.
“I’ve never talked to him about the issue,” the supervisor said. “I don’t even know where he stands on this.”
One business owner said off the record she picked Clifton Park as a location because of Halfmoon’s sign ordinance. That’s something Baldi-Fron wishes she had thought of.
“We made a conscious decision to move into Halfmoon,” she said. “I purposely didn’t move into Clifton Park because I thought it would be more difficult to deal with.”
For more information:
- Dolce and Biscotti, 1603 Route 9, Halfmoon, 280.6173
- Town of Halfmoon, 2 Halfmoon Town Plaza, Halfmoon, 371.7410
