Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/03/2016

Home

Regular Planning Commission Meeting Date: 11/03/2016 By: Chris Anderson, Community Development Information Title: PUBLIC HEARING: Consider Request for a Conditional Use Permit for a Ground Sign that Exceeds both Height and Area Standards within the COR District; Case of Northstar Marketplace Purpose/Background: The City has received an application for a Conditional Use Permit from Quality Sign Solutions (the "Applicant"), on behalf of Northstar Marketplace Station LLC (the "Property Owner"), for a new pylon sign that would exceed both the height and area standards for the property located at 7900 Sunwood Drive NW(the "Subject Property"). The proposed pylon sign is seventy-five feet(75')tall and 333.5 square feet in area. Notification: Staff attempted to notify all Property Owners within a 350 foot radius of the Property of the Public Hearing via Standard US Mail. The Public Hearing was also published in the City's official newsletter,the Anoka County Union Herald. Observations/Alternatives: The Subject Property is located within the COR2 sub-district and the sign standards outlined within The COR Design Framework are more similar to the general business districts' regulations than the other COR sub-districts. The Subject Property has four(4) separate buildings with a potential tenant capacity of approximately seventeen (17). Thus, a pylon sign identifying the name of the commercial development and tenants from the various buildings could be considered a shared sign,which can be up to 150 square feet in size (per face) and no taller than six(6)feet in height. The Applicant is proposing to replace one of the two (2)ground signs on the Subject Property with a pylon sign that is seventy-five feet(75')tall and 334 square feet in area(per face). The completion of the Armstrong Boulevard interchange and the associated grade change has rendered their existing sign virtually invisible from Highway 10 traffic (especially for eastbound traffic),which is prompting this request. The proposed sign does include a decorative, six foot(6)tall base, similar in nature to the exterior finish of the Coborn's building. While the exact location of the new pylon sign has not been finalized, it will be generally located in the same position as the ground sign that it is replacing. That location is within a drainage and utility easement held by the City for drainage and by Connexus Energy for utilities. An Easement Encroachment Agreement will need to be executed with both the City and Connexus Energy prior to issuance of a Sign Permit. An Easement Encroachment Agreement was processed for the existing ground sign that is being replaced. The Applicant will need to provide a Certified Site Plan that shows the location of the proposed sign(and footing) as well as all utilities and provide the vertical and horizontal clearances as well before approval of the exact sign location. A similar request was approved by the City near the end of 2015 for another property impacted by the completion of the Armstrong Boulevard interchange. That approval granted permission for a seventy-five foot(75')tall pylon sign that was 225 square feet in size.Note that that approval was for a sign located in the B-2 Highway Business District as well as the Armstrong Boulevard Interchange Overlay District,which allows signs up to fifty (50) feet in height and up to 150 square feet in size (per face). However, for that property,there was a single multi-tenant building with a capacity of up to three (3)potential tenants.While the Subject Property is within The COR,which does have more stringent sign standards, it does also have three (3)multi-tenant buildings as well as the Coboms