HomeMy WebLinkAboutMiscellaneous Miscellaneous 1997-8-9
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CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
BUILDING BOARD OF APPEALS
MINUTES
Springfield City Hall
225 Fifth Street
Conference Rooms 615 & 616
Thursday
August 9, 1997
11:00a,m,
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RollCall:
Present were Butch Baird, Chairperson; Tom Miller, Virginia Lauritsen
Tim Hovet and Jim Ingram were absent
Staff:
Lisa Hopper, Secretary to the Board
2, Tom Miller moved to approve the minutes of the May 14, 1997 Board of Appeals Meeting,
Virginia Lauritsen seconded the motion, The motion passed unanimously,
3. New Business:
Chairperson Baird asked the Board to declare any conflicts of interests prior to the hearing, No
conflicts were stated,
a, Ethan Allen #97-07-103
The property in question is located at 3 I 50 Gateway Loop, Springfield, Oregon,
The applicant requests a variance from Section 9-7-18 (I) of the Springfield Sign Code relative to
the maximum allowable wall signs, The property is in the 1-5 Commercial Sign District.
Lisa Hopper presented the staff report to the Board saying the applicant is proposing to install 12
logos on awnings which will be placed on the structure. Ms. Hopper said the applicant has
indicated Ethan Allen is redecorating their buildings nationwide and a number of the structures
have added the logo's on their awnings in various locations throughout the States, She said the
store located on Gateway Loop would like to do the same,
Ms, Hopper described the dermitions of sign copy and wall sign as adopted in the Sign Code, She
said sign copy is dermed as any lettering, artwork, and/or logos which are placed on a building.
The sign copy definition is used for determining what constitutes a sign,
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Ms, Hopper added that although the proposed logo's are small and would not exceed the
allowable square footage for wall signs for the 1-5 Commercial Sign District, staff felt the
approval of logo's used on structures in addition to the allowable wall signage could set a
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Board of Appeals
Minutes
August 7, 1997
Page 2
p~ecedence for the City and the City's Urban Growth area, Ms, Hopper added that a site visit to
the location could identify no unusual conditions which would justify additional wall signage for
the structure,
Ms, Hopper said staff recommends denial of the variance as requested,
Buzz Blumm representing Eugene Sign and Awning and Don Hescheles, representing Ethan Allen
were present to provide infonnation to the Board regarding their appeaL
Mr, Hescheles presented to the board store tags, book marks, catalog, etc, with the same
decorative symbol (logo) they are proposing to place on their awnings, He explained that the logo
is appearing on all paper work and signage for all Ethan Allen Stores, Mr, Hescheles added that
the Portland area has two Ethan Allan stores and they were allowed to place the logos on their
awnings,
Chairperson Baird closed the testimony and opened the discussion to the Board,
Tom Miller asked Ms, Hopper what is allowed in their sign district. Ms, Hopper said that 350
square feet of wall signage with no one sign to exceed 199 square feet in size is allowed in the
sign district. Mr, Miller said the primary sign is very subtle and very tastefully done. Mr. Miller
would like to vote favorably to this request without setting a precedence,
Mr, Miller asked the applicant what the total square footage of wall signage would be with the
proposed logos, Buzz Blumm said they would be at approximately 75 percent of their total
allowable wall signage, Virginia Lauritsen said it is more of a decoration than a logo,
Chairperson Baird agreed, but added the Board is charged with upholding the Sign Code as
allowed and adopted by City CounciL The Sign Code does not allow logos without identifying
them as wall signs. Chairperson Baird said there are no findings that would allow the Board to
approve the applicants variance request. Chairperson Baird recommended the applicant apply to
the City Council for reconsideration of the Boards decision,
The Board members agreed there are no fmding of facts that would allow approval of this appeal,
but they would like to send a recommendation to the City Council to consider approving the
applicants request.
Ms. Lauritsen asked Ms. Hopper where in the Sign Code logo's are identified, Ms, Hopper
referred the Board to the defmition section of the Code,
Ms. Lauritsen asked the applicant when they would like to place the awnings, Mr. Herschel said
the awning construction and installation is based on the decision of the board,
Chairperson Baird asked Ms, Hopper to identify the soonest date this could be heard by the City
CounciL Ms, Hopper received confinnation from Sandy Marx that this request could be heard at
the September 2, 1997 City Council Meeting,
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Mr. Herschel said Ethan Allen will be having their grand opening celebration October lOth
through 19th. The September 2, 1997 date would still allow the contractor time to construct and
install the proposed awnings,
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Board of Appeals
Minutes
August 7,1997
Page 3
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Tom Miller moved to deny the variance request but to send a recommendation to the City Council
for their approval of the request. Virginia Lauritsen seconded the motion, motion passed
unanimously,
Ms, Hopper provided the applicant with the appropriate application to appeal the Boards decision
to the City Council.
3, Business from the Board:
Chairperson Baird along with the present Board members agreed that they would like to propose a
code change at the September 2, 1997 City Council meeting which would address logo's,
The Board would like to allow the placement oflogo's on buildings and/or awnings provided the
total square footage of the existing signage and the proposed logo's do not exceed the allowable
wall square footage. The Board feels that the allowance of logo's would not be a detriment to the
community.
A number of issues were discussed by the Board concerning the proposed Sign Code change:
. One question is weather or not to limit the number of logos.
. Should a maximum number of logos be placed for each side of the building.
After a discussion, the Board decided on the following:
. Not to limit the number oflogo's a business can have,
. Change the defmition of Sign Copy in the Sign Code to exclude artwork and logo's,
. Amend the sign code to allow logos in commercial and industrial districts as long as the
logo falls within the 350 square foot allowable area,
Ms, Hopper asked if the Board would like to have logos included in the exempt status signage or
in each commercial/industrial section. The Board decided to mention it specifically in each
section where it would apply,
The Board agreed all logos will be reviewed by the Community Services Division prior to
installation, If logos are submitted with sign drawings that require permits, there would be no
additional charge for reviewing the logos. Iflogos are submitted separately, there would be a
minimum one hour charge due prior to the review.
4'-_--;:;... Business from the Staff:
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a. Lisa Hopper provided the Board with copies of the 96/97 Fiscal Year Report
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Board of Appeals
Minutes
August 7,1997
Page 4
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b, Ms, Hopper said that the Annual Contractor Meeting will be held in mid September, She said
Chairperson Baird requested last year that there be two meetings, one for commercial/industrial
contractors and one for residential contractors. Ms. Hopper will send all Board members
information on the time and date,
5, Business from the Audience:
None,
6, The meeting was adjourned at 12:30
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