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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6732-B BOA Staff ReportNOVEMBER 19, 2020 ITEM NO. 1 Z-6732-B 1 File No.: Z-6732-B Owner: Darshan Patel Applicant: Arkansas Sign & Neon, Inc., Attn. David Ashley Address: 811 East 4th Street Description: Rector Town Addition, Lots 1 through 6, Block 9 Zoned: UU (Urban Use) Variance Requested: Variances from the Signs provisions of Section 36-342 to permit a ground-mounted sign in the UU (Urban Use) District, and from the Signs provisions of Section 36-557 to permit a building mounted sign adjacent to private (non-right- of-way) property. Justification: Hotel owners wish for ground mounted sign to identify hotel location for local street motorists, and the south-facing building mounted sign for high speed freeway motorists. Present Use: Recently vacant/undeveloped; presently under construction Proposed Use: Hotel STAFF REPORT A. Planning and Development Civil Engineering: No Comment. B. Buffering and Landscape: No Comment. C. Building Codes: No Comment. D. Staff Analysis: The subject property abuts E. 4th Street to the north, Collins Street to the east, and Rector Street to the west. I-30 lies just west of Rector Street, which functions somewhat as a freeway frontage road at this location. The site lies just within the UU (Urban Use) zoning district which comprises roughly 12 square blocks in the immediate vicinity. A five-story hotel and associated parking is under construction and substantially complete on the site, with surface parking lot access drives from Rector and Collins Streets. The site also lies within the Presidential Park Design Overlay District, which has no bearing on the subject variance requests. NOVEMBER 19, 2020 ITEM NO. 1 (CONT’D) Z-6732-B 2 The applicant proposes to erect a ground-mounted (monument) sign near the northwest corner of the subject site, at the intersection of E. 4th and Rector Streets, and, install a building mounted (wall) sign facing the undeveloped private property lying immediately south of the site. Section 36-342.1(c)(11) of the Little Rock Municipal Code states, “Ground mounted signs are discouraged and may only be permitted as a variance per Division 2 of this chapter.” Section 36-557(a) of the Municipal Code states, “All on-premises wall signs must face required street frontage except in complexes where a sign without street frontage would be the only means of identification for a tenant.” The proposed ground mounted hotel sign is 8 feet in total height, with approximately 12 square feet of sign face area. Other districts within the City allow 8-foot and 10- foot high signs with up to 100 square feet of area , and three nearby ground mounted signs within the neighboring area feature heights between 21 and 40 feet, all with sign faces exceeding 25 square feet. The subject ground sign is proposed within a context of higher-volume commercial and industrial traffic less than 150 feet from Interstate 30, and the only identifying signage for the hotel are the wall mounted hotel signs, approximately 50 feet above ground level. Within the above-described context, the requested ground mounted sign is not inappropriate for pedestrian- and motorist-level wayfinding in the surrounding area. The proposed wall sign conforms with guidelines for building mounted signs in all respects, with exception of its southward orientation adjacent to a presently undeveloped lot. The relationship of the southern face of the hotel to the very nearby northbound lanes of I-30 implies the need for the proposed wall sign, which will be the only sign visible to high-speed northbound freeway traffic. Based on the above assessment and analysis, staff finds the requested variances to be reasonable. E. Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the requested ground mounted and wall mounted signs as reflected in the submitted plans and elevations, with the following condition: Add street addresses to the ground mounted (monument) sign per Section 36- 557(f): “All on-premises ground-mounted signs shall have located on the face of the sign, in characters no less than six (6) inches in height, the street address number of the business identified by the sign. In the case of a double -faced ground-mounted sign, the street address number shall be located on each face of the sign.”