BOARD OF
ZONING APPEALS MINUTES
MARCH 13, 2006
The meeting was called to
order by Chairman Mickley at 7:00
p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Nevin Taylor,
Alex Kessler, Dick Mickley, Kelly Thornton, Greg
Faulkner
Excused: Barbara Timmons,
Harry McMannis
OTHERS PRESENT: Zoning Inspector McCoy, Clerk Patterson,
Scott & Patty Wyeth, Steve Kelly,
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: There being no additions or corrections,
the minutes for the meeting on February 13, 2006 were
approved as distributed.
AGENDA
ITEMS:
OLD
BUSINESS:
NEW
BUSINESS:
1.
Requesting a variance for a
768 sq. ft. detached garage (maximum 750 sq. ft. permitted) to be located 1’
from side and 0’ from rear property line (5’ minimum setbacks required). R-2 zoning district. Filed by Scott and Patty Wyeth,
COMMENTS OF
ZONING INSPECTOR AND/OR DESIGNEE:
According to
Codified Ordinance 1137.13(j), the minimum setback for accessory buildings in
the R-2 zoning district is five feet.
The applicant is requesting 1’ from the side and 0’ from the
rear.
COMMENTS OF
REQUESTER: Mr. Scott Wyeth
addressed the Board. The proposed
garage will replace an existing garage, but will be larger. They have lived at this residence for 42
years and have had no problems with their property line.
Mr. Faulkner
expressed concern with the 0’ from the rear property line for fear it would not
leave any room for Mr. Wyeth to get behind his garage to paint or do maintenance
without getting on the neighbor’s property. He asked if applicant would consider 1’
from the rear property line. Mr.
Wyeth agreed.
There is
currently a part shed and a frame shed on the property. Applicant plans to keep the part shed
and get rid of the frame shed once the garage is built.
Mr. Wyeth
commented that he had spoken with the neighbors about the new garage and they
had no problems.
COMMENTS OF
CITIZENS:
None
DISCUSSION BY
BZA MEMBERS:
Mr. Thornton
moved to grant the request for variance for a 768 sq. ft. detached garage to be
located 1’ from side and 1’ from rear property line, seconded by Mr. Taylor and
the question put, stood:
Mr. Taylor YES Mr. Kessler YES Mr. Mickley
YES Mr. Thornton YES Mr. Faulkner YES
Variance
granted.
2.
Requesting a variance to
permit 35’ in height, 264 sq. ft. shopping center sign (25’ in height and 40 sq.
ft. shopping center sign permitted); TOC zoning district. To be located at the Shoppes at
Marysville,
COMMENTS OF
ZONING INSPECTOR AND/OR DESIGNEE:
Codified
Ordinance 1143.14(a)(2) states the maximum sign face
area of a shopping center identification sign shall equal twenty square feet for
each 10,000 square feet of gross floor area but shall not exceed 100 square
feet. A maximum height of
twenty-five feet shall be permitted.
Because the shopping center is 18,433 sq. ft., the maximum square footage
of the shopping center sign is 40 sq. ft. with a maximum height of
25’.
COMMENTS OF
REQUESTER: Mr.
Mr. Taylor
stated he is not in favor of the 35’ sign.
The graphics show the Coleman’s Crossing sign as being 45’; it is only
38’. Would like
to see this sign reduced by 7’, to 28’. It becomes more proportioned with the
other sign. Feels the “gingerbread”
décor below the sign could be eliminated to save some space.
Mr. Thornton
asked about the signage that City Gate may be planning. Ms. McCoy stated they are talking about
a masonry sign, which will be fairly large, although she noted there is not a
whole lot of space for the sign.
Mr. Thornton wants to see a level of consistency in all the signs in the
area.
Mr. Thornton
asked how important the text “Shoppes of Marysville” was to the sign? Mr. Sargent stated it is not as crucial as the tenant
signs. Mr. Soles added from a
design standpoint, “Shoppes of Marysville” is important for identifying the
center as it being a separate, smaller entity. Ms. McCoy stated it’s important that the
secondary sign does not block the one-way in/one-way out. Mr. Sargent
has checked it out and it does not affect the visibility, and noted you can only
turn right anyway.
Board asked
if applicant could make the sign narrower? Mr. Soles expressed concern that he
would have to stack the tenant panels, which would bring the cabinets down
unless they could keep the height at 35’ to keep the clearance. Mr. Taylor noted in order to keep it
proportionate, drop it to 8’ and bring the others proportionately in, the height
would be 24’-2” to make it exactly the same size as what applicant currently
has. Would still
have a 16” clearance above a 7’ car.
Sign B is to
identify the shopping center for traffic northbound on Coleman’s Crossing. The pylon sign cannot be seen from
Coleman’s Crossing. There is no
entrance to the shopping center coming off of Coleman’s Crossing. Mr. Thornton noted sign B is
pointless if there is frontage where sign A is located.
Proposed
Shoppes of Marysville sign – 4’ x 8’, Applebee’s – 3’ x
8’.
Approximate
square footage of sign space is 120.
Shopping enter
will house seven (7) tenants.
Mr. Sargent proposed reducing sign B to 6’ in height in order to
get the 28’ height on the pylon sign to assure more ground clearance and set
sign B back 2’ from the right-of-way or (3’ from the sidewalk) to ensure
visibility.
COMMENTS OF
CITIZENS:
None
DISCUSSION BY
BZA MEMBERS:
Mr. Taylor
moved to set forth the regulations of 8’ center with 120 sq. ft. for sign A and
28’ high, seconded by Mr. Thornton and the question put,
stood:
Mr. Kessler YES Mr. Mickley
YES Mr. Thornton YES Mr. Faulkner YES
Mr. Taylor YES
Variance
granted.
3.
Requesting a variance to
permit 49 sq. ft. secondary entrance shopping center sign (40 sq. ft. shopping
center sign permitted); TOC zoning district. To be located at the Shoppes at
Marysville,
COMMENTS OF
ZONING INSPECTOR AND/OR DESIGNEE:
According to
Codified Ordinance 1143.14(a)(5), on a site with
secondary frontage, one additional shopping center identification free-standing
sign shall be permitted on a secondary street frontage with a vehicular entrance
to the shopping center. The sign is
limited to the same size as the main shopping center sign, equal to twenty
square feet for each 10,000 square feet of gross floor area. Because the shopping center is 18,433
sq. ft., the maximum square footage of the shopping center sign is 40 sq.
ft.
COMMENTS OF
REQUESTER: Question was asked if
“Shoppes of Marysville” was needed on this sign. Applicant would like to keep verbiage on
it as an identifier.
COMMENTS OF
CITIZENS:
None
DISCUSSION BY
BZA MEMBERS: Mr. Thornton moved to
grant the request for variance to permit a 42 sq. ft. shopping entrance sign to
be located 2’ from the right of way at the location designated for sign B,
seconded by Mr. Taylor and the question put, stood: Sign to be 6’ high.
Mr. Mickley YES Mr. Thornton YES Mr. Faulkner YES Mr. Taylor YES
Mr. Kessler
YES
Variance
granted.
4. Requesting
a variance to permit 250 sq. ft. identification sign (144 sq. ft. identification
sign permitted) to be located on the front of the building for Best Buy, to be
located on Coleman’s Crossing Blvd., north of Home Depot; SD-1 zoning
district. Total signage requested
for building is 650 sq. ft. as opposed to maximum signage permitted of 300 sq.
ft. Filed by Bear Creek Capital,
LLC,
COMMENTS OF
ZONING INSPECTOR AND/OR DESIGNEE:
According to
Codified Ordinance 1143.18(b)(d)(4), the maximum sign
face area for a wall identification sign is the width of the building X
1.2. Based on the width of the
building unit of 120’ for the proposed Best Buy, the maximum sign face area for
the sign requested is 144 sq. ft.
According to Codified Ordinance 1143.04, the measurement of the sign face
area shall include the actual panel area.
The applicant is also requesting an additional 250 sq. ft. sign on the
north side of the building facing Home Depot and an additional 150 sq. ft. sign
on the east side of the building facing US 33, for a total of 650 sq. ft. of
signage requested. Codified
Ordinance 1143.18(d) states the maximum total permanent sign face area shall not
exceed 300 square feet.
COMMENTS OF
REQUESTER: Mr. Steve Kelly of Bear
Creek Capital, LLC, addressed the Board.
Best Buy building will be located north of Home Depot and is a
four-tenant building. Best Buy sign
on the pylon sign will be in one of the lower, smaller panels. The Best Buy sign includes the
ticket. The ticket for the larger
sign measures 12’ x 20’, for the smaller sign 9’-6” x 15’-6”. The lettering on each sign calculates
out to be 42-1/2” for the larger sign and 32-1/2” for the smaller sign. Best Buy’s logo/sign is under a unique
cabinet style that has a ticket and would like to display that ticket. Need something that has lettering that
would be in the tone of the Code. A
42-1/2” sign, which is a 3-1/2’ letter, in the context of the other signs in the
area, won’t appear to be that much larger than what’s already out there. The Code calls for 56 sq. ft. lettering,
which would mean 15’ letters on the building, which would make it hard to see on
the building. Applicant feels he is
being consistent with the number of signs and is looking for the consideration
of the Board to look at the actual sign portion inside that ticket. He believes it will show they are
consistent with the Code with that size.
It’s really the ticket size that makes this application contrary to the
Code, thus the reason why they are before the Board.
Mr. Taylor
asked about getting rid of the blue since the ticket is the important part of
the sign. He noted with the blue,
about one fourth of the building is covered with signage. Mr. Thornton agreed. With the blue on the rear and side
elevations, 2’ in height and width is being added to the signage. Mr. Kelly stated the blue was discussed
at the Design Review meeting. It
was identified that the blue was part of the building architecture. Mr. Mickley
agreed that the blue on the front of the building would seem to be a part of the
architecture.
Mr. Thornton
feels that 9-1/2’ x 15-1/2’ wide signs are plenty big and all three of them
could be that size for a total of 450 sq. ft., 150 sq. ft. for each sign. He commented that the side elevation is
unnecessary because it faces Home Depot.
Mr. Kelly
understood the 9-1/2’ x 15-1/2’ but thinks that when you look at the sign
portion, it is a small sign to either be displayed from the front or the back
and would want larger lettering where this building sets from Coleman’s Crossing
or US 33. He understood the comment
about the side sign. It is
repetitive. Best Buy does want to
see a 250 sq. ft. sign in the front, as well as the 250 sq. ft. sign on the
rear. He proposed withdrawing
the request for the side sign and keep the front and
rear signs as requested.
Mr. Thornton
asked Ms. McCoy to get the Home Depot plans so he can make a comparison. Home Depot is a 100,000 sq. ft. building
and Best Buy is 20,000 sq. ft.
Mr. Taylor
noted that he was at the Planning Commission meeting when the blue façade was
discussed. The Commission
said it was dependent on how the Board of Zoning Appeals treated it, because
they considered it part of the sign, and it does not match the architecture
completely; it’s an astro design feature which does
not follow the same style structure.
It was noted that Ms. McCoy did not count the blue as part of the
sign.
Mr. Mickley noted the drawing is not to scale and it looks like
the side and rear elevation signs are about the same, yet the side elevation is
150 sq. ft and the rear is 250 sq. ft.
Ms. McCoy
questioned the blue background on the signs on the side and rear. Why does it have to be there? Mr. Kelly stated it creates the correct
contrast with their logo. Ms. McCoy
confirmed that she did not count the blue when measuring the sign, but did
include the yellow ticket.
COMMENTS OF
CITIZENS:
None
DISCUSSION BY
BZA MEMBERS:
Mr. Thornton
moved to approve the request for variance to permit a 250 sq. ft. identification
sign to be located on the front of the building at Best Buy to be located on
Coleman’s
Mr. Faulkner
clarified 250 sq. ft. for the side and rear elevation, 500 sq. ft. total for the
entire building.
Mr. Faulkner
YES Mr.
Variance
granted.
5.
Requesting a variance to permit 250 sq.
ft. business sign (53 sq. ft. business sign permitted) to be located on the
south side of the building for Best Buy, to be located on Coleman’s Crossing
Blvd., north of Home Depot; SD-1 zoning district. Total signage requested for building is
650 sq. ft. as opposed to maximum signage permitted of 300 sq. ft. Filed by Bear Creek Capital, LLC,
COMMENTS OF
ZONING INSPECTOR AND/OR DESIGNEE:
According to
Codified Ordinance 1143.18(b)(d)(4), the maximum sign
face area for a wall business sign is the width of the building X 2.2 and 20% of
that amount. Based on the width of
the building unit of 120’ for the proposed Best Buy, the maximum sign face area
for the sign requested is 53 sq. ft. (120’x2.2x.20=52.8 sq. ft). According to Codified Ordinance 1143.04,
the measurement of the sign face area shall include the actual panel area. The
applicant is also requesting an additional 250 sq. ft. sign on the front of the
building and an additional 150 sq. ft. sign on the east side of the building
facing US 33, for a total of 650 sq. ft. of signage requested. Codified Ordinance 1143.18(d) states the
maximum total permanent sign face area shall not exceed 300 square
feet.
Ms. McCoy
stated the request for this sign is for the building facing US 33, rear
elevation.
COMMENTS OF
REQUESTER:
COMMENTS OF
CITIZENS:
DISCUSSION BY
BZA MEMBERS: Mr. Thornton stated he
is not in favor of the size of this, let alone the blue. 250 sq. ft. is going to be a big
sign. With the blue included, it
will cover half the back end of that building. Mr. Taylor calculated the sign to be
over 400 sq. ft., including the blue.
Dimensions would be almost 21’ x 18’. Mr. Kelly stated if the consideration is
that this is a panel sign, the ticket is really the only standard of measurement
that could be used for the sign.
Mr. Taylor feels the blue is part of the whole sign. Mr. Thornton asked Ms. McCoy if she had
any notes from the Planning Commission and their thoughts on the blue. She stated the Commission was not crazy
about the sail (blue portion at the front of the building), but thought the blue
was part of the façade. The blue
band proposed to go around the building was eliminated. Mr. Kelly said the blue is an EIFS of
the same like materials that are being used for the rest of the building. The current variance request was to
permit the front sign with a maximum square footage of 500 sq. ft. for the Best
Buy. Mr. Kelly proposed to withdraw
the third sign in order to keep and maintain the 250 sq. ft. sign on the back of
the building. Feels the sign on the
back of the building is an important identification sign for the building.
Mr. Mickley asked about including the blue background in the 250
sq. ft. number. Mr. Kelly could not
answer the question. Eliminating
the blue had not been discussed with Best Buy. Mr. Mickley
proposed tabling this item until Mr. Kelly could talk to Best Buy. The Board requested a scaled drawing so
they could see what the signage would actually look like. From the graphics, the 150 sq. ft.
sign looks like the same size as the 250 sq. ft. sign.
Mr. Thornton
suggested reconsidering the vote on agenda item 4 until they received a scaled
drawing. He fears the 250 sq. ft.
might be even bigger than what it looks like on this drawing.
Mr. Taylor
expressed concern that the Board is allowing 500 sq. ft. which is almost twice
what is normally allowed. He feels
the blue is part of the sign. He is
OK with the blue front façade, but would like to see a true dimension on the
back. After doing some figuring, he
figured the rear sign would be almost 16’ x 23’ or 16’ x 24’, which is 300+
square feet. Mr. Kelly
said he would prefer to keep the sign on the rear of the building at 250 sq.
ft.
Mr. Thornton
moved to table this item until the April 10th meeting, seconded by
Mr. Faulkner and the question put, stood:
Mr. Taylor YES Mr. Kessler YES Mr. Mickley
YES Mr. Thornton YES Mr. Faulkner YES
Motion to
table passed.
The Board
requested scaled drawings be prepared for the April meeting. Also, the topic of whether or not the
blue background will be included in the 250 sq. ft. will be discussed.
6.
Requesting a variance to
permit 150 sq. ft. business sign (53 sq. ft. business sign permitted) to be
located on the east side of the building for Best Buy, to be located on
Coleman’s Crossing Blvd., north of Home Depot; SD-1 zoning district. Total signage requested for building is
650 sq. ft. as opposed to maximum signage permitted of 300 sq. ft. Filed by Bear Creek Capital, LLC,
COMMENTS OF
ZONING INSPECTOR AND/OR DESIGNEE:
According to
Codified Ordinance 1143.18(b)(d)(4), the maximum sign
face area for a wall business sign is the width of the building X 2.2 and 20% of
that amount. Based on the width of
the building unit of 120’ for the proposed Best Buy, the maximum sign face area
for the sign requested is 53 sq. ft. (120’X2.2X.20=52.8 sq. ft.). According to Codified Ordinance 1143.04,
the measurement of the sign face area shall include the actual panel area. The applicant is also requesting an
additional 250 sq. ft. sign on the front of the building and an additional 250
sq. ft. sign on the south side of the building facing US33, for a total of 650
sq. ft. of signage requested.
Codified Ordinance 1143.18(d) states the maximum total permanent sign
face area shall not exceed 300 square feet.
COMMENTS OF
REQUESTER:
COMMENTS OF
CITIZENS:
DISCUSSION BY
BZA MEMBERS:
Mr. Thornton
moved to table agenda item #6, which is requesting a variance to permit 150 sq.
ft. business sign, seconded by Mr. Mickley and the
question put, stood:
Mr. Kessler YES Mr. Mickley
YES Mr.
Thornton YES Mr. Faulkner YES Mr. Taylor YES
Motion to
table passed.
Mr. Taylor
asked Ms. McCoy to request in the future, all drawings be drawn to scale. Mr. Thornton noted that is a requirement
on the application.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come
before the Board of Zoning Appeals, the meeting adjourned at 8:45
p.m.