The Ellicott Town Board passed Local Law No. 3 that changes the zoning around Merrill Lynch Wealth Management to include its new parking lot in the mercantile district instead of residential. The change was made to assist Merrill Lynch with installing a new sign in the area of the parking lot. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Town of Ellicott officials approved a zoning change to assist a local business with installing a new sign.

On Monday, the board approved Local Law No. 3 after hosting a public hearing that no one attended.

The change modifies the mercantile district located in West Ellicott by adding a previous unimproved parcel with 200 feet of frontage on Southwestern Drive and 112 in size to the existing mercantile district, which reflects the current use of this parcel and the surrounding land uses in the neighborhood.

Pat McLaughlin, town supervisor, said the change just continues the mercantile district to include the new parking lot Merrill Lynch Wealth Management installed along Southwestern Drive. He said with the new zoning, the business will be legally allowed to install a sign along Southwestern Drive where the parking lot is located.

“They wanted a sign next to the road (Southwestern Drive) indicating that is where Merrill Lynch is located,” he said.

McLaughlin said the request was recommended by the town Zoning Board, which held a public hearing last month on the proposed change. He said one neighbor, who is in favor of the change, spoke during the zoning board’s public hearing. He added that town officials received no other response or correspondence from other residential property owners about on Southwestern Drive about the proposed change.