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LEXINGTON PLAZA LLC 80 S 8th Street, #3670 Minneapolis, MN 55402 (612) 333-1663 Re: Sign Variance Application - Lexington Plaza Shopping Center 18. B State exactly what is intended to be. done on or with the property which does not conform with the City Code: We are planning to install a new sign along Lexington Avenue to enhance the sign age for the Center. Our request entails three parts that do not conform to the City Code. First, we are asking to combine the allowable sign area from the two parcels of the center into one sign (i.e. instead of two 100 square foot allowable signs, we are asking for one 200 square foot sign). Our tenants in the North building have been complaining that they don't have sufficient visibility at the corner of Lexington & Larpenteur. We will be removing two existing signs from the center (the Earl's Pizza sign & the Moto Foto sign), because they detract form the look of the center, if this variance request is granted. Second, we are asking that the sign be allowed to be thirty feet high, which is five feet higher than the code allows. The reason for this is because we are concerned that the sign would be subject to vandalism if we had it any lower to the ground. The third variation from the City Code is the 30' setback. We would like to install the sign in an area that is currently landscaped (see attached map), so that we don't loose any more parking spaces. We don't.have the luxury of spare parking spaces. 18. C Explain the physical hardship that makes the variance necessary. The hardship that currently exists effects the owners, the tenants, the neighbors, and even those simply passing by. This Shopping Center had been neglected for years. As the new owners, we are working hard to upgrade the shopping center. Part of this effort is to create a new sign and enhance the look of the center. Currently the owners are disadvantaged because the center is not competitive with other centers of it size, most all of which already have a large pylon sign identifying the major tenants. The tenants are disadvantaged too because they cannot get the same viability as businesses in competing centers. The neighbors and passers-by will escape their hardship because the increased visibility of the proposed sign will move traffic more smoothly and safely through the area, and the new signage will help to upgrade the image of the center as well as the neighborhood.