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NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS, INC. 4800 Olson Memorial Highway, Suite 202, Golden Valley, MN 55422 Telephone: 763.231.2555 Facsimile: 703. 231.2561 planners@nacplanning.com PLANNING REPORT TO: Little Canada Planning Commission FROM: Stephen Grittman DATE: November 5, 2010 SUBJECT: Little Canada- Marketplace Center PUD Amendment Freestanding Sign Size CASE NO: 758.09 -10. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY Bob Grootwassink is seeking approval of an amendment to an existing Planned Unit Development Permit for a comprehensive sign plan at Marketplace Center, The subject site is located at 2900 Rice Street and is zoned PUD, Planned Unit Development. In 2007, the shopping center received approval for a comprehensive sign plan incorporating the existing freestanding sign along Rice Street, along with wall signage for the individual tenants themselves. The freestanding sign had been approved some years earlier by variance, providing for one 400 square foot sign in the current location, with the understanding that the center would forgo a possible second freestanding sign along Little Canada Road. The zoning ordinance otherwise provides for maximum freestanding sign size as 200 square feet per sign for large retail buildings, including the Marketplace. The applicants are now seeking an amendment that would increase the total square footage of the existing sign by adding sign panels below the current sign area. The two new sign panels constitute an increase of 84 square feet of sign area, resulting in a total of 484 square feet. The applicant also proposed to alter the sign faces on the entire sign to result in a dark background with red and /or green lettering for all tenants. ANALYSIS The subject site contains the Marketplace Center shopping center. The gross silhouette area of the shopping center is approximately 14,543 square feet. Therefore, the total 13