09/04/2003 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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NIr. Rymarczyk indicated it was approved. Mr. McIntosh said the final element is the building signs, to identify and brand the entrances into the mall. There are 4 entrances. There are 2 on the north side, 1 on the west side, and the Dillard's entrance. There is an entrance by the food court as well. Mrs. Sergi asked if those signs will be the same size as the temporary signs. Mr. Archer said one sign is larger and the rest are the same size. Mr. Maloney asked about the height of the one sign where it shows 8 feet 8 inches. He wondered why it has to be so high. Mr. Mclntosh said it sits so far back so they need height. Mr. Workley said it is all a part of way finding, you show people the main entrance when they are driving and then the main entrance for when they enter the building. Mr. Kremzar commented they are over doing the signs. Mr. Farrell said the 3 entry signs are all of equal size. They are 6 feet 9 inches. He said they need to identify the entrances and he is getting to the point of 1 sign being larger but he wants to know how big that one is. Mr. Archer said it is 14 feet wide. Mr. Farrell said the entry sign that Mr. Kremzar referred to is 8 feet 8 inches. He said if that particular sign is an issue, and there is an issue of making the signs consistent, they can do that. Mrs. Sergi asked if he would be ok with having 4 signs the same size. Mr. Farrell said yes. Mrs. Sergi pointed out that would eliminate variance #2. Mr. O'Malley said Mr. Farrell raised an interesting point that often comes before the board and is often a concern. If the other tenants decide they want to rehab their signs and they come before the board, he asked Mr. Rymarczyk if, the way this is laid out, does it account for the square footage that is allotted to those tenants or is that a separate calculation. Mr. Rymarczyk said it is variance #10 and includes all the building signs out there now, including Bennigan's, the proposed Jared's, as they currently exist. Mr. O'Malley asked if they can determine what part of #10 is used up by Westfield and what part is used by the others. Mr. Ryinarczyk said Westfield, with the way they came in, would be taking only 439.5 square feet. He mentioned the other anchor stores that have signage. Mr. O'Malley asked what the total square footage of all the Westfield signs is. Mr. Rymarczyk said it is 4,572.5. There was further discussion about how much of the total signage Westfield is requesting to use. Mr. Kremzar asked what will happen when Galyan's comes in to the mall and when TGIF moves to an out lot. Mr. Rymarczyk said that depends upon the proposed ordinance that stills needs to be signed off on and it may have to go to the Planning Commission. Mr. O'Malley said if he understands Mr. Rymarczyk correctly, comparing the total square footage that is out there now to the total that Westfield is presenting here, they are adding only an additional 439 square foot. Mr. Rymarczyk said no, he does not believe they are adding that much. They are taking signs off and replacing signs. Mr. Farrell said they are actually reducing the total signage. Mr. O'Malley said the board has often expressed concern about new tenants adding to signage when all of the allowable signage has been used up. The landlord has "inaxed it out" and the tenant is then at the mercy of the board. He said this applicant is comprehensively planning the sign package for the whole mall and accounting for the anticipated tenants. Mr. Farrell said they are trying to apply a zoning ordinance that covers the entire city to a unique piece of property that is 82 acres and almost a million square feet. Effectively, in a lot of situations sign ordinances in local communities that deal with major projects like this would have a separate ordinance applying to that particular project. He said that even if Westfield did not do anything, when Galyan's comes in they will be looking for a variance. The ordinance as it is written today does not apply to this type of property. Mr. Maloney said that the stores that own their own property, Kaufmann's, Dillard's, J.C. Penney's, and Sears, have their own signage on the buildings. He said the total signage for the mall is included aggregately. He thinks what Westfield is asking for is to identify themselves as a shopping town to support the other merchants within. He said they are cutting down the 9 foot monument sign to about 7 feet. He said they have come up with a decent program. He said it is a good idea to have the 8 foot 8 inch sign brought down to 6 feet 9 inches at the entry ways. Mr. Rymarczyk said it would be a reduction of 61 square feet on item #10. It would eliminate variance requests 2, 3, and 4. Mr. Maloney added that variance request 5 would then be for 4 wall signs. Mrs. Sergi commented that she still has issue with the signs on Country Club. There are 3 that are not very far apart. There is a lot going on back there and while she appreciates that Westfield wants the name recognition, as a shopper she thinks it is too busy back there with the cars and all the signs. There are names on the corners and on the doors. Mr. McIntosh said that each intersection has a different scenario. One is controlled by a light and that is where they propose a median mounted monument sian. The other is strictly a right hand turn and not controlled by a light. That is by a bend in the road and they would like a sign to identify the entry. The third is not controlled by anything. It needs to be identified also. Mr. Farrell said it is also a safety issue. He said they