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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes December 20, 2011 Page 2 2 Assistant City Manager Moore -Sykes presented the staff report and advised that because there is 3 no regular City Council meeting scheduled for December 27, 2011, a waiver letter has been sent 4 to the applicant requesting another 60 days in order to process this request. 5 6 Mr. Richard Lang, 475 Cleveland Avenue North, St. Paul, appeared before the Planning 7 Commission and presented a rendering of the proposed signs. He explained that the signage on 8 the brick is readable from Highway 88, however, it creates some confusion because it makes you 9 think you enter the building at that location. He stated the secondary sign in the recessed area 10 was designed so as not to be visually redundant and this sign is curved, contains downlighting to 11 light up the entrance area, and create a more user friendly look at that location. 12 13 Chair Jensen closed the public hearing at 7:14 p.m. 14 15 Commissioner Cincoski indicated he was not sure having a second sign would make it less 16 confusing and it might appear there are two clinics at this location. He questioned whether an 17 illuminated entrance sign might be the answer. 18 19 Mr. Lang stated the canopies are not illuminated and they felt that by curving the second sign 20 and including downlighting, the canopy will be more illuminated and the downlighting will 21 create light on the non - illuminated letters below it as a way- finding for the address. 22 23 Commissioner Niccum stated that while the Code allows one sign per building entrance, it looks 24 like there are two separate businesses here. He noted that the total square footage of the two 25 signs is below the amount allowed by Code and did not see a problem with the proposed signage. 26 27 Commissioner Heinis stated the main wall sign is 64.6 square feet and the proposed smaller wall 28 sign is 25.5 square feet, which results in a total square footage that is below the maximum square 29 footage allowed by the Code. He felt if there was no sign indicating the entrance area, it would 30 appear unbalanced and look like a storefront with no identification. 31 32 Chair Jensen asked whether placing the clinic's logo and the word "entrance" on the hood with 33 downcast lighting would accomplish the clinic's goal without the need for a variance. 34 35 Mr. Lang replied that they cannot use the logo without the letters and the clinic's main concern is 36 to clearly define the entrance. He stated the clinic originally wanted a monument sign but 37 learned that that was not a possibility, so this sign has to be readable from Highway 88. He 38 indicated they did not want a lot of repetition and wanted the smaller sign to be secondary to the 39 primary image. He added that they could just have an entrance sign but they felt this was not as 40 aesthetically strong and it would take on the power of another tenant sign. He explained that the 41 signage on the west - facing elevation of the building is used to identify the drive -up window and 42 for some visibility on that side of the building; however, it is critical that patients understand the 43 entrance location when looking at the building from the parking lot. He stated there is an 44 overwhelming sense, architecturally, that you enter the clinic in the larger area and the proposed 45 signage is intended to correct that image. 46