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ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 9, 2005 4 . CounciImember Grant stated this had been discussed at the Planning Commission meeting and it was deemed that some of the information was critical, such as setting out the Sheriff's Patrol Station for safety reasons. He noted this sign would not compete with other signs in the area because of the amount of acreage this facility took up. He stated the only change to the lettering discussion at the Planning Commission was abbreviating "Minnesota" to "MN" in order to reduce the size variance required and he believed the Planning Commission would have voted in favor of this with these changes. Bruce Thompson, Assistant Director of Property Management Ramsey County, stated there were three reasons they needed a variance. One, they believed it was in the best interest of their partnership by requesting this larger sign and while they could meet the ordinance by only putting on Ramsey County, he believed this would be a disservice to the partners. Two, the Sheriff had specifically asked there be a larger sign for safety reasons and having their facility readily identifiable. Third, in designing the sign they used the Traffic Signage Institute's guidelines and the letters on the sign were to be readable for one City block. He indicated by reducing the size of the letters, this would create dangers on the road because people would need to slow down to read the sign. He stated they had listened to the Planning Commission and that was why they reduced "Minnesota" to "MN". He indicated the Minnesota Army National Guard was in favor of the sign and they approved their name being abbreviated to "MN". e CounciImember Larson stated he was not opposed to a variance, but he believed there were ways to do it that did not require as large of a variance. He suggested they use four lines and stack them all up and back light everything. Mr. Thompson replied that with Councilmember Larson's suggestion, a completely new sign would be required if any of the partners were to change their names. He indicated the smaller letters were done in an industrial vinyl, which could be changed without changing the entire sign. CounciImember Larson stated he would like them not to retain the small letters and only have the large letters and back light all of the letters. Mr. Thompson replied he understood his point, but this would eliminate some of the smaller partners. Councilmember Larson stated he did not believe everyone needed to be listed. He believed this could be done better and smaller. Ramsey County Commissioner Tony Bennett stated the sign was only 6 foot 2 inches and the Arden Hills City Hall sign also did not meet the ordinance. He stated with one sign, it would be less cluttered than having individual signs. He noted there was pride among all of the partners that they pulled together these agencies and they needed to let people know that they were there. . MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Mayor Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve Planning Case #05-10: Ramsey County Public Works Entrance Sign as amended to have "Minnesota" replaced as "MN" in "MN Army National Guard" with the sign standing 6'2", the letters portion of the sign being 23'8", and 3'4" for the sign's