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• Planning Commission 462-96:Mounds View Square Signage November 20, 1996 Page 3 Northtown Village: Center identification sign is approximately 62 feet high and 21 feet wide. Tenant names are 5-6 feet wide. The area with words is approximately 613 square feet. Sign constructed of split face block and brick. Birch Run Station (across from Maplewood Mall): Has a monument sign at the entrance from Beam Avenue which is approximately 25 feet tall and 14 feet wide, with a sign area of 280 square feet. Mendota Plaza: There are two signs, one facing Highway 110 and one facing Dodd Road. The larger one is on Highway 110 and is set back approximately 150 feet from the edge of the roadway. (This sign measures 50 feet tall and has a sign area of 430 sq.ft.) It does not appear large in context. Analysis/ Recommendation: The center identification sign proposed for Mounds View Square fits within the Sign Code • requirements which allow for a pylon sign that is 35 feet high with a sign area of 340 square feet. This sign does not require a variance. Staff would recommend that supports be brick to match the center's architecture and the proposed materials for the monument signs at the entrances. The monument signs at the driveway entrances and at the intersection of Highway 10 and Long Lake Road would require a variance. The applicant is proposing that they be constructed of brick. We do not have information on the color scheme or how the signs will be lighted. We are unclear if the signs will be double-sided. If the monument sign at Long Lake Road and Highway 10 is similar in size to the two proposed at the driveway entrances, the three signs would add approximately 300 feet of signage (100 square feet per sign) on structures measuring 216 square feet each. The applicant feels that this signage is needed to alert motorists to the shopping center and the driveway entrances, since the pedestrian bridge will obscure the view of the retail building from Highway 10 until motorists travel under the bridge. The applicant has indicated that the evening commute is most important to them in terms of capturing shoppers, and it is this east to west direction that is blocked by the bridge. Two issues need to be addressed before dealing with the signs themselves. It appears that the signs at the driveway entrances are in the highway right-of-way,,and they will also cause a sight distance problem for motorists exiting the shopping center. The signs need to be relocated far enough back to allow motorists' safety. If they will be in highway • right-of-way, the applicant would need to provide the City with evidence of permission from MnDOT.