11-15-1982 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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, NORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS INC. MEMORANDUM TO: Little Canada Planning Commission, Mayor and City Council FROM: Brad Nielsen DATE: 6 October 1982. RE: Little Canada Mall - Conditional Use Permit and Variance for Signage FILE NO: 758.09 (82.26) Mr. Norm Brody has requested approval of a conditional use permit for multiple signage on the Little Canada Mall and a variance to the sign area requirement. To the best of our knowledge, the applicant's original C.U.P. request was tabled pending . additional plans from the applicant. Since that time, the applicant has requested that he be allowed to increase the sign area on the building from 10% of the front building silhouette to 20 %. The attached exhibit explains the applicant's proposed signage criteria for tenants of the shopping center. Multiple signage for a shopping center or multiple tenant building is cer- tainly understandable and is provided for in Section 903.110 E.5.b. of the Zoning Ordinance. In terms of sign area, it must be realized that the establishment of a maximum area is somewhat arbitrary.. Nevertheless, 10 percent of building silhouette area was the standard set at the time the Ordinance was adopted. In this regard, the requirement, whether abritrary or_net, has been consistently enforced. We are not of the opinion that the request meets the criteria for granting a variance (Section 922 of the Zoning Ordinance). This is not to say that the request is unreasonable. However, that determination is not ours to make, but rather the decision of the City Council. Our only recommendation is that if the City is inclined to increase the maximum sign area requirement, that it be done by ordinance amendment rather than variance. In this way, the requirement can be applied consistently to all businesses. cc: Joe Chlebeck Tom Sweeney Ed Locke Norm Brody 4820 minnetonka boulevard, suite 420 minneapolis, mn 55416 612/925-9420