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PLANNING REPORT DATE: 14 April 1993 CASE NUMBER: 2503 APPLICANT: Signcrafters (for McCarthy GMC) LOCATION: 2775 Highway 35W ACTION REQUESTED: variance (Sign) 1. BACKGROUND The McCarthy GMC auto dealer wants to erect a new pylon sign along Long Lake Road at the southwest corner of their property which would need a variance to both height and setback standards in the Code. The applicant states (in the attached letter) that an agreement was worked out with City staff before the recent changes in the Sign Ordinance to allow the height variance, but that the sign would meet the 30' front setback. The applicant also notes that signage for adj acent businesses exceeds the Code standards and that the GMC site suffers "complete visual obstruction". An addendum to the request asks that the front setback be allowed to be the same as the signs for the adjacent car businesses. 2. DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS The current Code standards require a business pylon sign to be setback 30' from the front property line and be no more than 20' tall. The request is for a 28' tall pylon; the setback dimension is not stated, it is requested to be "in line with the adjacent signs" of the neighboring car dealers. We are unaware of any specific agreement that was made concerning the proposed sign. In our opinion, the McCarthy si te does not suffer from "complete visual obstruction", and the location of neighboring business signs have been grandfathered in. If and when they propose new signage they will need to comply with the new standards. We believe there is no hardship in this case that justifies a variance. 3. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION We recommend denial of the variance request.