10/03/2002 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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variances they are asking for, specifically (1164.24 (c)), states the maximum area and square footage for a sign is based on a formula of one square foot of signage per lineal foot of unit frontage. He referred to the plot plan and pointed out the location of the K&G store. It is right in a corner of store units. It is the old movie theater. Mr. Sidlo said the overall square footage for the store is 25,833 square feet. There are only 3 other stores out of 20 in that section that have more total square footage than K&G. At the back of the store, they have 140 lineal feet. It comes to a point at the front at 39 feet 3 inches. Therefore, per code all they would be allowed to put on the front of the store is 39.25 square feet, even though they have a 26,000 square foot store. There are only 3 other stores that have more square feet, including Home Depot at 112,000 square feet. He said if you were to draw a box around them, you would end up including a design element, which is molding that is part of a peaked roof line, that you cannot put a sign on anyway. That box ends up extending out well past where the peaked roofline is and ends up including dead air where you cannot put a sign. If they were to take their proposed sign with the 4 elements, K&G, For Men, For Women, For Less, and dimensionalize them down and draw a box around each one separately, what you end up with is a number that is 144.873 square feet. The customer has spent a great deal of money updating the front, the fascia. They want the store to be successful within North Olmsted. The front of the store has a large fascia; it is over 40 ft. tall, but they are actually limited to a much smaller area than what that large fascia would allow for signage. If you take a look at an avgular line from the "F" to the "K" and from the "S" to the "G" that does make an angular line that does come in match with what you have here as far as a peaked roof line. It is not something that is just up there in a great big box or rectangle that doesn't go along with any of the architecttiral elements of the front of the building itsel£ He referred to the number mentioned earlier, 144.873. That is the dimensionalized square footage amount. If they were able to take that sign and stack it down, with For Men, For Women, For Less being stacked underneath the K&G, if the fascia did not have the architectural elements built into it that it does, they would be talking about a whole lot less square footage. It would be 167.916 square feet less. However, because of the architectural embellishments that were built in to the front of the fascia, to make the fascia look nice, this was the layout of the sign that works best for this particular fascia. The storefront width is 39 feet, 3 inches, which by North Olmsted code allows them 39.25 square feet of signage. He pointed out that K&G is over 600 feet away from Brookpark Road. There are out lots with Chi-Chi's, Key Bank, Chuck E. Cheese, and Tony Roma's. Anyone traveling down Brookpark will have difficulty seeing where the K&G store is. Mr. Malin indicated they took photos of the Home Depot and JoAnn Fabric signage. He said Home Depot has 6 foot letters stretching 75 linear feet. They are within code for their frontage. They want to blend in with the other teuants in the shopping center. He added that what they are asking for is comparable to their neighbors. Mrs. Sergi asked how large the lettering is below "JoAnn" on the sign further down the strip center. Mr. Malin indicated they are about 14 inches tall. He mentioned the shop that sells blinds right next store has 16 inch letters. Mr. Sidlo pointed out there is a pylon sign for the strip center. He said K&G has no intention of taking space on that pylon. Mrs. Sergi commented the sign would be comparable considering the building is taller. Mr. Rymarczyk asked for clarification on whether or not the current facade on the building is being renovated. Mr. Erickson indicated it will be replaced but it will have the same textural elements avd bandings. Mr. Rymarczyk said the recommendation of the building department would be to not grant the 8 feet 5 inch variance but to grant a 6 foot high variance for the K&G sign only, to eliminate the verbiage underneath, "For Men, For Women, For Less." He added that as Mr. Sidlo indicated, the building is 600 feet away from Brookpark so it is barely visible. He pointed out that would eliminate variance 43 and it would reduce variance #2 to 2 feet. And item #1 would be reduced to 50.75 square feet instead of 273. Mr. Erickson said that the verbiage referred to is part of their registered trademark. It is used for branding. Mr. Malin indicated they use it to identify the store. He said K&G was initially a men's' store and they need to add tlus so people know who they are. He said the rule of thumb on letter height is that if it's a 6 foot letter, a person with 20/20 vision can read it 600 feet away. Mr. Rymarczyk said they will really be looking for K&G. Mr. Konold said they have their work cut out to identify their store. They will need heavy promotions. Mr. 0'Malley commented the applicant has clearly demonstrated a practical difficulty and explained it well as far as the frontage of the building compared to the square footage of the building. However, some of the further explanation, that is the changes they have chosen to make in the front of the wall, the configuration and design of the wall tends to, and to the extent that it limits the area or reduces the area within which to place their sign, is self created. Notwithstanding the need for a variance, the amount of the variance is certainly in the board's discretion and the comments and recommendatious of the building department should be taken into consideration. He would not expect that the copyright laws or registration of a copyright or mark would necessarily dictate to this board that they are entitled to have a variance or that they are entitled to have that tag line. He would not want the board to conclude that because it's a copyright issue, they are bound to allow that tag line. He does not see it that way under the law.