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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – FEBRUARY 28, 2024 4 <br />they could have per square foot; he felt it should be based on how many acres a business had, or <br />how many entrances there are. <br /> <br />Senior Planner Fransen said currently the size of the sign area is a factor of the sign copy area. <br />There is a range within the districts from 25 square feet to 100 square feet. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bonine felt they should maybe consider other factors. He didn’t think limiting the <br />size of a sign because of arbitrary copy space was good and does not align with businesses the City <br />might want to attract. There are a lot of unique businesses that may have different needs. He felt <br />they needed to be more flexible but consistent. Right now, the code seems limiting. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murchie agreed. He described that if the sign is too small, then people will have <br />to squint and might miss the information. He thought in some of the districts it made more sense <br />to have more flexibility. He agreed with relaxing it to be more consistent. <br /> <br />Senior Planner Fransen asked if anyone had comments on sign copy area and height. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bonine asked if there was a specific goal the Council was trying to achieve. <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau wasn’t aware of a specific goal. She thought the reason this came up <br />was because there were many times people have gone to the Planning Commission and had to <br />request sign standard adjustments. She thought there was some modernization that needed to <br />occur. Her priority would be the impact on residential areas versus non-residential areas. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bonine thought if they were looking at zones that weren’t impacting residential <br />that having consistency across those zones would make sense, but it might require a field trip to <br />understand why there are certain regulations set. He thought they might want to bring up the <br />maximum sign copy area to match neighboring cities. In his experience the copy area didn’t make <br />sense for his building. He felt it made sense to have the same size sign allowed at all entrances of <br />a building. <br /> <br />Commissioner Murchie wondered if it would be possible for businesses on one side of the street <br />be able to have similar signage as businesses on the other side of the street that are in a different <br />city. <br /> <br />Senior Planner Fransen explained the Shoreview code was based on the size of the building so <br />a comparison could be challenging. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bonine felt that basing signs on building square footage made sense. This could <br />be better than basing it on the size of the lot. <br /> <br />Senior Planner Fransen said she could work with other cities to gather examples and make some <br />comparisons with neighboring cities. Staff will work on consolidating the feedback from the <br />meeting to provide a summary to the EDC at a future meeting. <br /> <br />B. Twin Cities North Chamber Conversation <br /> <br />John Connelly, President of the Twin Cities North Chamber of Commerce, said as a footnote <br />to their discussion about signs, Columbia Heights had discussions about their ordinances about six