BETHEL – Despite unanimously approving a sign application for Shell Oil Co. at the July 9 meeting, the Planning Board reconsidered its approval Monday night.

After a lengthy discussion about Shell’s free-standing sign, planners re-approved the application with a 5-1 vote.

Shell applied to replace the Big Apple’s existing Texaco signs with Shell signs at the convenience store/gas station’s Route 2 location, which is also called 59 Mayville Road.

Chairman Al Cressy initiated Monday night’s discussion, explaining the board’s reasoning for reconsidering the matter.

“We did approve Shell’s signs (on July 9) with one condition, granting two waivers for size and height,” Cressy said. “Since that time, I was notified that the application was in error in terms of the speed limit of 35 mph (at that location) instead of 45 mph in terms of the size of the sign, which is a big difference.”

Bethel’s sign ordinance limits overall sign size to 60 square feet in areas where the speed limit is 45 mph or greater. The initial overall size of Shell’s proposed free-standing sign was 62.5 square feet, which required a waiver because it missed the maximum by 2.5 feet.

However, neither planners, Shell representative Michael Loin of Bertin Engineering Associates of Southbridge, Mass., or Bethel Code Enforcement Officer Rich St. John realized that the speed limit at the Big Apple’s location is 35 mph.

Bethel’s sign ordinance limits the overall size of signs in a 35 mph zone to 32 square feet. The current Texaco sign, which had been grandfathered, has an overall size of 95 square feet.

Loin argued that the ordinance restrictions would force a hardship on Shell because it would limit their free-standing sign to include just the logo and one panel minus the price zone, which fuel stations are required to have by law.

While planners mulled over that quandary, Loin that since the board’s July 9 meeting, Shell had reduced the overall size requirement for its canopy signs to 11.8 square feet.

Planners took that into consideration, noting that Shell’s initial overall canopy size was 21.8 square feet.

Loin further argued that reducing the overall size of Shell’s proposed free-standing sign from 62.5 square feet to the 35 mph requirement of 32 square feet would create a traffic safety problem for approaching westbound traffic that must ascend an incline over an adjacent bridge. Traffic would then have to travel around a slight curve while descending toward the station.

He argued, and planners agreed, that a smaller sign would not be readily apparent to drivers until they were right on top of the station. Loin also noted that the highway’s posted speed limits are ambiguous at the location.

It drops from 45 mph to 35 mph in the westbound lane and increases from 35 mph to 45 mph in the eastbound lane after rounding a curve over the slight incline that crosses the bridge.

Planner Sarah Tucker then motioned to re-approve the contested sign as presented and the board did, voting 5-1. Planner Suzi Harrington was the lone dissenter.

Harrington said Shell didn’t need to include a panel on the sign indicating that the station has off-road diesel fuel because those that want it know where to get it.

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