Dollar General accepts Wiscasset's rejection of the business's signage request and will use smaller signage that meets town rules, a representative said Wednesday, May 8. She received the sign permit Thursday, May 9, she said in a followup phone interview.

Diana Olmstead said the roadside and outside wall signs will total 147.5 square feet. The sign ordinance allows 150 square feet.

April 1, the town rejected Dollar General's permit request for 194.67 square feet of signage. May 6, the appeals board rejected Dollar General's request for a variance. Olmstead wasn't there. She didn't know about the meeting until she heard about its outcome from Dollar General and the Wiscasset Newspaper, she said. The newspaper left Olmstead messages after the meeting and the next day, seeking comment.

Olmstead said she reached Wiscassset Administrative Assistant Kathleen Onorato, who put her in touch with appeals board chair Susan Blagden. Olmstead said she learned from Blagden the proposal did not have the merits for a variance. "Dollar General is going to accept that ... and file a new sign permit application," she said.

Had she known about the meeting, she would have gone, Olmstead explained. She added, she had included her business card with the paperwork to the town. In phone interviews May 8, Onorato and Blagden said Onorato notified the applicant, Dollar General. She got the address off the appeal application, Onorato said. That's what Onorato is supposed to do, Blagden said.

Onorato also gave the Wiscasset Newspaper a PDF of the address label she used to send the notification. It matches the Columbus, Ohio mailing address the application lists, except the two differ on a number that follows the road name and number. Asked about that in a followup email, Onorato responded, perhaps that was the problem. But the town has not gotten the notification back in the mail, she said.

Thursday morning, May 9, Olmstead arrived at the Wiscasset municipal building with the new sign permit application. She received the permit that morning, she said later. “I feel exonerated,” she said. She added she would like to note, Dollar General has been wonderful for her to work with throughout the process. Dollar General’s paperwork to the town listed Olmstead as a contact.  A company official deferred comment to Olmstead earlier in the week.