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_________________________________________________________________________________________ City of Arden Hills Planning Commission Meeting for February 7, 2018 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2017\PC 17-004 - Sign Code Amendment\Memos_Reports_17-004 Page 3 of 8 Sign District Proposed Existing District 9 Removed Parts of TCAAP not fronting Highway 96 Highway Overlay District Commercial properties fronting I- 694, I-35W, or Hwy 10 Wall Signage Currently, the Sign Code allows a set square footage of wall signage based on the sign district the property is located in. This one size fits all approach can result in signs that are not proportional to the size of the building a business is located in. For example, under the current Sign Code properties in Sign District 5 (properties fronting Lexington Avenue south of Interstate 694) are allowed 80 square feet of wall signage. This applies to both a large store like Cub Foods as well as a tenant in a multiple occupancy building, such as Subway. Staff has worked on updates to allow wall signage based on a percentage of the building elevation area. From reviewing other cities’ regulations, this approach is commonly used for business and industrial districts and not residential or public/institutional districts. The range is generally between 5 and 10 percent of the elevation area. One wall sign per building would be permitted, but properties with frontage on more than one public street would be allowed an additional sign for each elevation with frontage. The table below provides examples of how much wall signage would be allowed for different businesses in the City. Business (Elevation) 5% Elevation Area 10% Elevation Area Existing Wall Signage Cub Foods (Lexington Ave.) 429 sq. ft. 859 sq. ft. 681 sq. ft. Walgreens (Lexington Ave.) 179 sq. ft. 359 sq. ft. 40 sq. ft. Aspect LED (Dunlap St.) 55 sq. ft. 110 sq. ft. unknown Potbelly (Lexington Ave.) 20 sq. ft. 40 sq. ft. 40 sq. ft. Based on these calculations, using 5 percent of the building elevation for larger buildings (Cub Foods and Walgreens) appears to work better than using 10 percent. Conversely, for tenants in multiple occupancy buildings (Potbelly), 10 percent of the building elevation results in a more appropriately sized sign. Staff would recommend setting the permitted wall signage at 5 percent of the building elevation and establishing a minimum square footage for wall signage in each district. This would ensure that tenants in multiple occupancy buildings have adequate signage. Staff is recommending that wall signage be allocated as a set square footage for properties in residential districts, and in the B-1, Neighborhood Business, Civic Center, Institutional, Parks and Open Space, and Conservation Districts. The following table outlines recommendations for wall sign copy area.