What is the General Waiver provision?
This part of the amendment provides a new – and much more permissive – mechanism for circumventing the limits on free standing, projecting, and wall signs. Suppose, for instance, that a building owner or tenant seeks to put up a projecting sign with neon illumination. Because the Zoning Ordinance does not automatically permit that sort of “internal illumination”, permission of the city is required. In the past, this permission would take the form of a zoning variance – something that the law intentionally makes hard to obtain and subject to a rigorous review process. In all likelihood, such a zoning variance request would be denied. Under the newly-enacted General Waiver provision, the situation is very different: the Planning Board can “waive” these restrictions and grant a special permit for a neon sign at its discretion.
