Ayer Planning Board Sends Window Sign Bylaw Change to Town Meeting

AYER — March 10, 2026 — Ayer Planning Board recommends loosening window sign rules for downtown businesses. The board voted 4-0, with one abstention, on March 10 to send a proposed amendment to Sections 9.5.1, 9.5.4, and 9.5.7 of the Ayer Zoning Bylaw to the April 26-27 annual town meeting, a change that would allow business owners to apply decals and graphics to the exterior surface of storefront windows — currently prohibited under a rule Building Commissioner Mike Wallace and Director of Economic Development Rachel Friedlander called outdated. Business owner Ron Morrison of MA Real Estate Center told the board he had been unaware of the interior-only requirement and called it contrary to how sign professionals typically install window decals; a second commenter, identified only as Pauline, urged the board to make the practical effect "abundantly clear" at town meeting. The board also unanimously approved a definitive subdivision modification and stormwater management permit for the Orion Park Drive industrial project at 66 Westford Road, including a waiver of the sidewalk requirement on the grounds the area is entirely industrial with no existing pedestrian connection on Westford Road, and continued a public hearing on the proposed 63 Main Street mixed-use building to March 24.