Saying it would set a bad precedent to allow all kinds of ‘Help Wanted’-type notices in storefront windows downtown, planning officials have asked Mrs. Green’s to remove such signs from its Pine Street-facing windows.
Here’s the sign in question, in the window of Mrs. Green’s. Credit: Michael Dinan
At the most recent regular meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission—which focused on shopping carts at Mrs. Green’s, among other matters— officials weighed whether the market’s ‘Now Hiring’ sign (see photo at right) should be conspicuous to passersby by and, if so, what size would be reasonable.
“As a precedent, we’re not aware of any stores in the downtown that area that have ‘Help Wanted’ signs out, at all,” P&Z Secretary Jean Grzelecki said at the May 27 meeting, held in the Sturgess Room of the New Canaan Nature Center’s Visitors Center.
Commissioner David Scannell said he felt that a “Now Hiring” sign might be a “happy sign” insofar as it represents a job opportunity.
Grzelecki said: “We have to consider the worst-case scenario which would be multiply that by every store in this downtown. If everybody started putting them up, we might not like it so much. The problem is never one person doing anything.”
Commissioner Elizabeth DeLuca suggested Mrs. Green’s keep its employment opportunities signs facing inside only.
Officials from Mrs. Green’s during the meeting said they’re seeking to hire high school-aged workers and older.
Grzelecki said it would be OK to have something inside the store.
“I think that for now the best thing is to not have anything on the exterior,” she said. “It’s a fine line because some stores have put things back, but when it gets to be too much it’s one of those ‘you know it if you see it’ kind of things.”