_Editor's note: This article previews a scheduled meeting based on the published agenda packet. After the meeting is held and video is released, coverage will be updated with the actual discussion and any votes taken._ The Advisory Board on the Visual Environment is scheduled to review Local Law Introductory 7 of 2026, a comprehensive rewrite of Croton-on-Hudson's sign regulations that would amend both the Property Maintenance Code (Chapter 179) and the Zoning Code (Chapter 230). The draft law was referred to the VEB by the Board of Trustees on March 25 by a 5-0 vote under Resolution 61-2026. The trustees also sent the proposed law to the Planning Board, the Waterfront Advisory Committee, and the Westchester County Planning Board for separate reviews. The referral was drafted under the direction of the Village Board, with Village Manager Bryan Healy working alongside the Village Attorney to bring the code into conformance with current court rulings and guidance from the New York Conference of Mayors. At 15 pages, the local law is the most substantial item in the VEB's April 14 agenda packet. It touches nearly every section of the village's sign regulations, from definitions to district-specific standards. The law rewrites the foundational definitions in Section 230-4. The current definition of a billboard, which simply describes it as a sign directing attention to a business on or off the same lot, would be replaced with a specific size threshold: at least twelve feet by twenty-four feet in area. New definitions are added for sign types not previously defined in the code, including balloon, banner, beacon, flag, monument sign, pennant, pole sign, sign height, and temporary sign. A temporary sign is defined as one not intended to be used for more than 45 days and not permanently attached — and the law specifies that temporary signs include banners, balloons, flags, and pennants regardless of the owner's intent. The vacant commercial building provisions in Section 179-7 would be tightened. Under current code, the owner of a vacant storefront may keep a "For Lease" sign visible through frosted window covering. The draft law strikes that exception, requiring all signage to be removed once a building has been vacant for more than 30 days. The permit process in Section 230-44(C) is restructured. The VEB's review timeline for sign applications forwarded by the Village Engineer would be extended from 21 days to 60 days, with the possibility of further extension by applicant consent. The renumbered subsections also clarify that the Village Engineer — not the VEB — is the primary approval authority for routine sign permits, while the Planning Board retains jurisdiction over signs that are part of site plan or change-of-use applications. New exempt sign categories are consolidated in a single subsection. Noncommercial signs, government-required signs, directional signs, and temporary commercial signs meeting specific criteria would no longer require permits. However, noncommercial signs that exceed standard size and placement limits would still need Planning Board approval. The temporary sign regulations are overhauled. Temporary commercial signs would be limited to 45 days of display and restricted to one per commercial property without a permit. Balloons, banners, flags, and pennants are carved out from the six-square-foot area limit, though all temporary commercial signs must be non-illuminated and cannot be placed in the public right-of-way. In a notable change to the prohibitions section, banners, flags, and strings of balloons are no longer categorically banned. The current code prohibits them except during 45-day business openings. The draft law instead treats them as temporary signs subject to the time, place, and manner restrictions in the new Subsection K. Billboards remain prohibited except for those in existence before March 19, 2001, that are on National Register of Historic Places sites. District-specific sign standards are updated throughout. In residential districts, home occupation signage would still need to be invisible from the street. In commercial districts, the law removes a provision allowing residential yard signs on residential lots and reorganizes the commercial sign allowances by district. Window signage regulations now explicitly include signs placed within two feet of the interior of a window, with permanent commercial window signs capped at 25% of the window area. The environmental review paperwork accompanying the law — a Short Environmental Assessment Form (Part 1) and a Coastal Assessment Form, both prepared by Village Manager Healy and dated March 20 — classifies the action as an Unlisted Action under SEQRA. The CAF, which applies because the regulations cover all zoning districts including waterfront areas, checks no boxes in the coastal impact assessment section, indicating the village does not anticipate adverse effects on coastal resources. Because the action is a local law rather than a physical project, the CAF instructs the preparer to skip the detailed coastal assessment questions and proceed to the submission requirements. --- **Source documents:** - [Referral to VEB LL Intro 7 of 2026.docx](https://play.champds.com/ATT/crotononhudsonny/2026-04/b772d6fb95139475d93cb26bd0d1959b3dc62447.docx) - [MAR 25th Res 61-2026 — LL Intro 7 of 2026 Referrals](https://play.champds.com/ATT/crotononhudsonny/2026-04/264bf91bfce9279d434e10d532af9565ef87de50.pdf) - [Local Law Intro 7 of 2026 — Signage](https://play.champds.com/ATT/crotononhudsonny/2026-04/412dead5e4d91b526f0e913702ec9220e131276d.pdf) - [Coastal Assessment Form — LL Intro 7 of 2026](https://play.champds.com/ATT/crotononhudsonny/2026-04/dcceddfb8092312880bff4ab8ca4c4671d728113.pdf) - [Short EAF Part 1 — LL Intro 7 of 2026](https://play.champds.com/ATT/crotononhudsonny/2026-04/51a2e2c2289606864edfdb8e46a75a2499203344.pdf) Related coverage: - [March 18, 2026 — Croton prosecutor asks trustees for tools to punish unresponsive violators](/article/4) - [January 27, 2026 — Planning Board Waives $12,000 Parkland Fees For Two Cottages](/article/17)