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MEMORANDUM DATE: 09/09/03 MEETING DATE: 09/16/03 TO: Planning Commission Members FROM: Susan M.H. Hall, Assistant City Manage SUBJECT: St. Anthony Shopping Center Sign Plan Amendment Requested Action: September 16 is the rehearing for the St. Anthony Shopping Center, LLC, comprehensive sign plan amendment request. On August 19, the Planning Commission held the initial public hearing on said request. On August 26, the City Council referred the issue back to the Planning Commission for further study and evaluation. It was hoped that a compromise could be reached between the St. Anthony Shopping Center and the City. Background: St. Anthony Shopping Center recently signed leases with two tenants that have regional and national scope: Bumper to Bumper and Subway. According to the petitioner, the current comprehensive sign plan does not provide sufficient flexibility of sign design to accommodate regional and national tenants that have logo signage for all their locations. For this reason, the petitioner has requested an amendment to the St. Anthony Shopping Center's comprehensive sign plan to allow for logo signs which deviates from what is currently allowed. On August 26, the City Council discussed the petitioner's request and overall, made the determination the proposed logo signage does not fit well into the existing shopping center sign signage for a consistent look (see minutes attached). It was felt that the proposed signage should be closer to the original criteria. One concern was the proposed logo signage is all one piece versus individualized lettering. One Councilmember's idea for the Subway sign, for instance, was to have individualized lettering in their styled form. Or in the case of Bumper to Bumper, perhaps a way to present it might be to have a small logo sign next to the words "Auto Parts" with individual letters, like the rest of the shopping center. A concern raised by the St. Anthony Shopping Center owner is how to put criteria, such as this, into a comprehensive sign plan amendment to cover these tenants and future tenants that want logo signs. The shopping center owner also asked, will each new tenant that wants a logo sign need to come in front of the Planning Commission and/or City Council for approval on a case by case basis. How can you write criteria to cover each possible logo sign scenario? The other concern for the shopping center is they have a signed lease with Subway, who has stated they will not go into the Center until their logo signage is up. Hence, the shopping center owner is asking to expedite matters for this reason. In July, the petitioner outlined the following criteria for the proposed comprehensive sign plan amendment: