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02/19/2018 11:00 PMHow much change is a good thing? For many Madison residents, the new digital Madison Art Cinemas sign is a step too far. In just over a week since a new LED sign replaced the old marquee on the arts cinema in the center of town, Madison residents have turned to social media and town officials to voice their complaints, prompting Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) to issue a swift crackdown on sign usage.
On May 18, 2017, PZC approved a new LED electronic marquee for the cinema, allowing for the digital display of movie titles and times. At that meeting, the new marquee was described as roughly the same size as the current marquee, with the ability to display an array of colors, change displays every 15 seconds, and display the names of movies and stars, movie posters, and time and temperature information. The light intensity can be adjusted and, in accordance with town zoning regulations, the marquee should not signal, flash, or rotate.
Madison Art Cinemas’ Arnold Gorlick, who applied for the sign, said at the time he wanted the new marquee for legibility as well as safety reasons.
“One of the guiding factors for me is I am 70 years old,” he said. “I can’t take the ladder out any more in rainstorms, blizzards, ice, or other bad weather. My manager a month ago had an accident and almost severed his arm. I can’t keep going up and down the ladder.”
Commissioners seemed to agree. All said they were in favor of the new sign, commenting on the cleaner look and the improved safety element by eliminating the need for someone to climb a ladder to change the movie listings. The only point of debate was the potential need for restrictions on what can be displayed on the sign.
“The only thing I would be concerned about the non-theater uses,” said Chairman Ron Clark. “I don’t think we want to see anything about lamb chops for a $1.25 at Stop & Shop.”
Commissioners voted to approve the application for the sign with the understanding that the display be used for movie theater business and community announcements. No restrictions were placed on color or font, as Clark said he would rather see Gorlick get to experiment a bit and see what works and what doesn’t.
That was last year. Today, residents clearly have strong opinions on what doesn’t work. Residents took to social media, offering their own opinions of the new sign on the Facebook page Madison CT.
“Ugly for such a charming town,” said one post. “Drove by it yesterday, looks totally out of character,” said another.
Some posts even seemed to turn it into a joke, “Add a bunch more flashing LED or neon signs and it will look like the downtown area on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls,” and on and on it went.
The public response to the sign brought the issue back to PZC on Feb. 15. Town Planner Dave Anderson said he believes the commission approved a static black background with white lettering that resembled the old marquee and could be used for movie information and occasional community messaging.
“The reason I asked for this to be placed on the agenda is because I reviewed the approval of the marquee and I do not feel how the marquee is being used today is in compliance with the approval,” he said. “There has been some chatter on both sides—people really love it and people really hate it.”
Many of the complaints seemed to stem from the recent promotional image on the sign for the three Madison Olympians. When the town held an event earlier this month to celebrate the Olympians, Gorlick said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eileen Banisch asked him to put something on the sign for the Olympians. Gorlick said the sign company created the animated images that ran on the sign during the event and, while he planned to take them down after, Gorlick said First Selectman Tom Banisch asked him to keep them up.
“The first selectman asked me to keep it up, otherwise it would have been gone by now,” he said. “I left all of these things there not because that is how I intend to operate the marquee…The animation—I only used it for the town. I will never use it for the theater, I will never use it to advertise something else, but everybody realized what a powerful instrument that was.”
However, members of PZC said people have also taken issue with how frequently the sign changes and that the color choices are maybe a bit too dramatic. PZC member Jim Matteson said the sign needs to go back to how it was originally approved.
“My suggestion is that we ask you to display it the way that we approved it, which was it’s pretty much a static sign with the movie and the times,” he said. “…I think we just need to bring it back and then we can go from there if there is a request to add more to that sign.”
If Gorlick wants to display more than movie titles and times, he will have to return to PZC with a special exception modification application.