04-26-89 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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~9IMUTES City Council April 26, 1989 Fina Sign Pat Wilcox, representinq Fina, appeared before the Council and reviewed Matter his report dated April 10, 19R9 which contains an outline of sign or~dinances of other communities. Agenda Addition Wilcox r•eviewed in detail the Vadnais Heiqhts' or•dinance and the pr~ovisions for• siqns allowed alon~ the inter•state in C-2 or C-3 ar•eas, whi ch woul d be simi 1 ar zoni ng to the Fi na pr~oper•ty. I~i 1 cox r~epor~ted that Vadnais Heights would allow a sinn up to F5 feet in height in circumstances similar to Fina's on Rice Street. Wilcox then proceeded to review the City Planner~'s report dated Anril 24, which drew some different conclusions from the Vadnais Heiqhts' ordinance. The City Planner indicated that a siqn height maximum of 20 feet would be allowed in a similar• situation. However•, Wilcox disaqr•eed pointinq out that the Vadnais Heights' ordinance addr•esses siqn height along Interstates or• Freeways, and Wilcox felt that Highway 36 fell into this same classification. The City Planner• repor•ted that fr•om the table contained in the Vadnais Heiqhts' or•dinance, a siqn height of 16 feet would be allowed, and since the property is a~ljacent to a freeway, an additional 50%, or 8 feet would be the maximum, brinqino the total to 24 feet. The Planner reported that the Vadnais Heia.hts' ordinance also used buildinq size in its determination of siqn heiqht, therefore, a larger buildinq would be allowed a higher sian. Collova pointed out that the Amoco Station in Vadnais Heights has a siqn that is very hiah an~!. the building itself is small. Wilcox pointed out that Fina is only requesting a sign 30 feet in heic~ht. tdilcox then proceeded to review the City of St. Paul's Planning Commission r~epor•t which states that business siqns should be qiven prior•ity over• adver~tisinc~ signs. The r•epor•t states that business siqns should he pr•ominent and easy to find. The report also contains a table comparing U different communities and analyzing the sign heiqhts that these communities would allow. The survey shows that alonq hiqhways with speed limits of 45 miles per hour or more, three communities would allow signs less than 30 feet in height, two communities would allow a 30 foot high sign, 5 communities would allow siqns 35 feet in heiqht and three communities would allow signs over 35 feet in heiqht. !dilcox state~! that it is clear that the Cit.y of St. Paul r•ecoqnizes that allowances must be made for• business identification siqns alonq hi~h speed hiqhways. Wilcox also r•eviewed the or•dinances of the Cities of Eagan and Bur•nsville which nive special treatment to signs alonp freeways. Fahey pointed out that Fanan allows siqns to a maximum heiaht of 27 feet along freeways. Scalze pointed out that the thinq that is wr•ong with the compar•isons is that the sic~n heic~ht in most cities is also calculated usinq the size of the buildina, with Scalze pointinq out that the Fina building is only Pane -18-