Zoning board OKs digital sign for Marzilli Construction on WHP
Page 4 • Wednesday, May 4, 2016 • The Hammonton Gazette
ZONING, from Page 1
Company owner Louis Marzilli
was represented by attorney Frank
Olivo. Also on hand was Dennis
roggio, owner of Clear Vision
Signs.
Olivo asked Marzilli and roggio a series of questions regarding
the design of the sign and its capabilities, specifically its ability to
enhance Marzilli’s business and
advertisement. Marzilli plans to
display a photo loop of jobs his
company has completed in the
past in order to attract more business. A new picture will be displayed every eight seconds, which
is a New Jersey Department of
transportation standard. the sign
will begin its loop in the morning,
sometime around 7 a.m. and will
operate until close to 10 p.m.
“the screen size will be 40
inches high and 60 inches wide.
About the size of a large screen
tV. it’s lit up by LeD’s. each
pixel has three different colors in
it. A red pixel, a green pixel and a
blue pixel. the ability to have
three pixels gives you the combination to make a photography
come out in different colors,”
roggio said.
the board’s only concern was
the safety of drivers as they pass
by and their eyes attract to the signage. Olivo cited a number of past
circumstances similar to this one
and said that on a highway where
drivers are typically traveling at
speeds north of 50 miles per hour,
they will only see a specific photograph for three seconds (give or
take a second). this means that by
the time the photo loop will have
switched to its next image, the
driver will already have lost focus
of the signage.
Planning board engineer Kevin
Dixon gave a brief explanation
and supported Marzilli’s request
to implement the new sign.
“this sign is already existing on
site. it is merely a matter of
changing the message,” Dixon
said.
Board member John Lyons
commented on the sign.
“i think that the sign, it’s the
same-sized sign. When you read
the ordinance, the ordinance
speaks to the size, not the type of
sign. So it’s the same-sized footprint, we’re just upgrading from
one type of sign to another type of
sign. to [board solicitor] Mr.
[Charles] Woolson’s point, if the
board’s being asked to make an
interpretation as to whether it’s
permitted or not, i’m of the opinion that it’s permitted. And it’s, i
took the time to read this stuff
today, and it’s unfortunate, it’s unfortunate in the sense that Mr.
Marzilli paid for Mr. Dixon’s report, and on page two of three it
just says that the ordinance
doesn’t contemplate electronic
sign faces. So unfortunately, because the ordinance isn’t current
Hammonton
Trivia Questions
from the Town
Sesquicentennial Committee
Which noted Hammontonian
was recognized by a Queen for
having introduced a fruit to
her country?
so to speak, Mr. Marzilli is forced
to come here and spend his money
and time in fees with Mr. Olivo as
well to be in front of the board. So
really, i think the essence of the
discussion, the big thing i’m getting out of all this conversation,
we need to communicate — and i
would ask you Mr. Chairman or
Mr. Woolson to communicate
back to the council that we need
to update the ordinance to prevent,
as Mr. Dixon said, putting an
undue burden on business owners
to come here and get permission
for something that obviously is
permitted, it’s just not clearly
spelled out in the ordinance,”
Lyons said.
the board unanimously voted
to allow Marzilli to move forward
with the installation of the LeD
screen to his existing sign.
the second variance request
was submitted by Anthony Antonelli Sr. Due to health issues,
Antonelli was not able to be present. He was instead represented by
James Castle, owner and operator
of Castle energy LLC. Antonelli
was seeking a use variance to permit a ground mount solar array for
Block 4302, Lot 17, zone r-3 at
475 Boyer Avenue.
Castle explained to the board
that Antonelli was currently using
more than 20,000 kilowatt hours
of electricity each month. the installation of these solar panels,
both on the roof and on a ground
mount, will cut his costs by nearly
60 percent. there was a very brief
discussion among board members
and after realizing that Antonelli’s
house was located very deep in
the woods and neighbors had already been notified, they did not
have a problem with the installa-
tion. they unanimously approved
Castle and his company to move
forward.
Salvatore retires after 30 years
Gabe Donio contributed to this
report.
Courtesy Photo
Hammonton Police Captain Nick Salvatore has retired after
more than 30 years of service as a police officer in Hammonton.
At the April 18 town council meeting, Hammonton Police Chief
Robert Jones thanked Salvatore and offered his thanks and
praise for all that the captain has done for the community.
“I’d like to bring up Captain Salvatore and present him with this
plaque on behalf of