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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2007MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD April 12, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: OTHER BUSINESS CITIZEN COMMENT NEW BUSINESS J. Maesal, G. Summers, M. Tendam W. Hallen None A motion was made to aoorove the minutes of the 11/09/06 meetina and was aocroved. None 2215 Main I Buy -the -Yard #07SVF- -00001 Presented by: Kathy Wicks, Laura Weldon, Mark Collins A freestanding sign is proposed to mark the location of a material service yard. Three issues were discussed at length: 1- the location of the sign and its possible obstruction of view of pedestrians on the sidewalk, both from trucks and cars leaving the yard. 2-the use of changeable copy on the lower portion of the sign. 3-the height of the sign and possible interference with an existing tree. The sign location proposed creates a visual block to the sidewalk area. A location parallel to the street was suggested by the SPAARC committee, but this is not acceptable to the owners since it would be difficult to see from Mian street, which is the real problem. Two signs at 45 degrees to the street were discussed and this seemed to solve the visual block, but was not totally acceptable to the owners. Use of changeable copy is banned by the Sign Regulations and the Board felt very strongly that no precedent should be set by this sign. The contend that changeable copy cannot be controlled and could result in visual clutter. The owners suggest a lockable glass case for the copy, but the Board still thought that the text design or content would be unregulated. If the changeable copy were removed the sign could be 2 feet less in height. A motion was made to modify the proposal by: -changing the sign location to 45 degrees to Main street and moving the signs as close to the existing fence as possible (two sign touching at 90 degrees to each other) -removing the changeable copy at the bottom of the sign and lowering the sign height by 2 feet and passed by unanimous vote. ADJOURNMENT was at 8:00 PM NEXT MEETING will be on Mav 10. 2007 MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: OTHER BUSINESS CITIZEN COMMENT NEW BUSINESS MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD May 10, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 J. Macsal, M. Tendam, J. Weiss W. Hallen None A motion was made to approve the minutes of the 04/04/07 meeting and was approved. None 1700 Central — The Eastwood Presented by: Al Stepan, Jack Crocker A temporary sign is proposed on the fence facing Central during the demolition/ construction process, a period of 12 to 15 months. The sign is 6 ft. high and has 25 panels, each 10 ft. long, for a total length of 250 feet. The presenters indicated that drawings do not reflect the current distribution proposed for the various panels. They have changed to one-third each of text panels; image panels, and project perspective rendering panels. A coordinated marketing program includes the signage proposed which is also used on the project sales brochure and website. They think of the image panels more as street art than advertising specific to the site and suggest that the alternative is a boring 300 ft. long construction fence facing Central. The signage panels could be adjusted to accommodate construction gates and other safety signage. The Board member were unanimous in rejecting the size of the proposed signage (1,500 SF) and have never approved this level of sign area for a construction site. They also felt that the signage was too repetitious and had images that did not relate to the specific project. Some member thought that construction activities were interesting to watch and their view would be blocked by the signage. A very long discussion of the number of panels and images types on them occurred between the presenters and the Board members and the Board finally agreed that their major issue with the proposal was simply the large size of the signage array. A motion was made to approve'12 signage panels at 6' X 10' each on the Central Street construction fence with 3 panels containing text and 9 panels containing Images or perspective renderings (mix to be determined by developer) and with any sequence to the panel arrangement and passed by a unanimous vote. 1927 Central — Winkelmann Antiques Presented by: Walt Winkelmann A banner type blade sign is proposed for this store with only a script "W" on it with a width of 2'-6" and a height of 4'-6", with the banner bottom 10 ft. above the sidewalk. The presenters thinking was to have an elegant sign that would be somewhat puzzling. In addition to the blade sign their will be gold leaf lettering on the store window giving the store name and conforming to the Sign regulations for window signs. They thought that the proposed signage was in keeping with the small, maybe even quaint, feeling of the shopping district in the Central Street area. Board members noted that all blade signs previously approved were limited to 2' wide by 3' high and had their bottoms in the 7' to 8' range. In fact, consideration is being given to suggest modifying the Sign Regulations to include blade signs within these limits. A Board member suggested that if this blade sign proposal could be modified to agree with these dimensional limits, that even two blade signs aligned with the masonry pier elements flanking the store windows could be approved. At this point the presenter withdrew the variation request and indicated his intent to design a wall sign the completely conforms to the Unified Business Center criteria for this set of stores. ADJOURNMENT was at 8:45 PM NEXT MEETING on June 14, 2007 MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD June 14, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Macsai, G. Summers, M. Tendam, J. Weiss STAFF PRESENT: W. Hallen OTHERS PRESENT: None OTHER BUSINESS A motion was made to approve the minutes of the May 10, 2007 meeting and was approved by a unanimous vote. CITIZEN COMMENT None NEW BUSINESS 2935 Central — Edward Jones Office Presented by: Bob Silverstein A wall sign individual illuminated letters, without a raceway mounting, is proposed for this space that has no wall or window area on Central Street. The company is not a tenant, but an owner of a commercial condominium portion of the basically residential condominium building. There are three commercial condominium spaces on the grade level floor of this building. The elevation drawing from the permit set did not agree with the as -built condition as stone feature elements were introduced during construction into the sign band area in the original design. The Board asked how wall signs for the three commercial spaces would be integrated with each other and arranged on the facade as no good configuration was apparent. Only two areas seemed appropriate for wail signage well related to the business location therein. The presenter had no idea of the plans for additional signage beyond this single sign. Approving one sign without a clear understanding of how all the future signage would arranged did not seem correct to the Board for this particular building with commercial condominium spaces. They thought that with the ownership of the space should come some understanding regarding signage. The Architect for the project could be consulted to develop an integrated signage plan for the building. A motion was made to deny the proposal and passed by a unanimous vote. 443 Asbury — Valero Gas Station Presented by: Tony Ilkhan and Kurian Prottichimil The re-signing of this gas station location appeared very straight forward to the Board and is almost one-to-one for existing signage, with some reduction In size. A except to this was noted by in Board in the gas price signage area on the proposed freestanding sign at the northwest comer of the site. The new sign is proposed with a 16" high, illuminated digital display which replaces existing non -illuminated 6" (or 8") high gas price numbers. The Board has approved digital display on other gas stations, but not of this height and suggested use of an array in the 6" to 8" high range. The presenter indicated that in his experience the shortest exterior digital displays available were 12" high and that the "tenths" (9/10) portion of the price would be difficult to read in any smaller display. A motion was made to approve the proposal with the condition that the digital gas price display be changed to a maximum of 12" high and was approved by a unanimous vote. ADJOURNMENT was at 8:30 PM NEXT MEETING Julv 12, 2007 MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD July 12, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Macsal, G. Summers, M. Tendam, J. Weiss STAFF PRESENT: W. Hallen OTHERS PRESENT: None OTHER BUSINESS A motion was made to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2007 meeting and was approved by a unanimous vote. CITIZEN COMMENT None NEW BUSINESS 1100 Clark (aka 1720.40 Oak) — Sienna Condos #07SVF- -00006 Presented by: Aaron Masillansky, Steven Maher, Mark Collins The proposal consists of two large banner signs on the east and west faces of the 1740 Oak (Phase-2) building, which is under construction, and two long "wall" signs on the construction fencing along the north and west boundaries of the site. Banner signs have limited text, the project logo, and contact telephone number on them. Wall signs on the fencing have "life-style" images consisting of interior perspectives of the condo units. Additional signage is needed at the site to aid in the marketing efforts. Signage proposed on the fencing is intended to shield the view of the construction and "clean up" the site boundaries. Board member agreed on the use of the wall banners, but questioned the use of "life style" images on the fencing signage. They asked what the purpose or intent of this signage was and were told its main purpose was to improve the appearance of the site by shielding the rough construction area from view. 11 Staff noted that this the block on Ridge between Church and Clark is used for lane switching by many cars. Many cars turning onto Ridge southbound from Emerson want to get to the east lane to turn east on Church and cars on Ridge want to get into the west lane to avoid the left turn lane back-up. Additional distractions generated from signage would not be useful in this area and could create problems. After some discussion the presenters agreed that the "life-style" images were not vital to the marketing effort and suggested a simple. one color sign with limited text on the fencing. A motion was made to approved the banners on the building as proposed and to change the fencing signage to a dark color continuous back -round with one Sienna logo of the east side and one on the north side and passed by a unanimous vote. 2935 Central —Edward Jones #E07SVF- -00004 Presented by: Brad Verber (condo store owner) Three sign areas are proposed for use by the three condo store/ office units in this new building. The developer has agreed to limit the signage of future store/ office owners to these locations. Signage areas and height conform to the Sign Regulations. Board members observed that the building design made it very difficult to organize three signage areas on the facade. While the building is slightly asymmetrical it has a strong central axis that divides the building into two zones. There is not sufficient space above the center arched opening for a sign and using this location would make this sign much more important than the others. No suggestions for changes in the sign locations were found by the Board. A minor adjustment in the vertical location was mentioned as a possible improvement. A motion was made to approve the wall signs as proposed with the condition that the sign areas be lowered to the recess between the two soldier course bands and that they be centered on the building bays and passed with John Macsal voting no. J ADJOURNMENT was at 8:10 PM NEXT MEETING August 9.2007 MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD August 9, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Macsai, G. Summers, M. Tendam, J. Weiss STAFF PRESENT: W. Hallen OTHERS PRESENT: None OTHER BUSINESS A motion was made to approve the minutes of the July 12, 2007 meeting and was approved by a unanimous vote. CITIZEN COMMENT None NEW BUSINESS 1600 Sherman — The North Face #07SVF- -00007 Presented by: Walter Hallen (A misunderstanding by The North Face representatives resulted in no presenter from the company at the meeting and Mark Carlini, an Architect with JGA, agreed to Walter Hallen making the presentation.) A "cube" sign is proposed, suspended from the underside of existing steel canopy at the southeast corner of the Sherman Plaza complex. A red. 4'-9" cube is proposed with %" push-thru copy on three sides. The copy and the "cube": or square format is the company's current corporate logo. The top of the cube is flush with the underside of the canopy construction and the area under the sign has 11 ft. clear height. Window and awning signage included in the proposal agrees with the Unified Business Center signage plan for the complex. A long discussion was held by the Board on this "cube" sign proposal. Basic objections centered around the lack of relation to architectural elements. The sign seems to destroy the effect of the canopy, in the Board's view. They also wondered about the close proximity of this strong visual element to the soon to be erected steel sculpture in the adjacent plaza area. The sign acts like a "blade" sign, but is much larger than any such sign previously approved by the Board. Without representatives from the designer or company it was difficult to determine what kinds of changes would be considered by them. Thus, it was decided by the Board to develop a set of guidelines that could be used in modifying the proposal for re- presentation to the Board. A motion was made to suggest that the "cube" signage proposal be modified as follows: -no signage suspended from the bottom of the canopy -possible use of one or more of the following sign locations: -"Box" wall signs on the two masonry piers flanking the entry which could be as large as 48" square and 10" deep. (top of sign to align with the top of the awnings) -"Cube" sign wall mounted on area above the entry doors. Text on top edge of the canopy, similar to the signage on Barnes and Noble (NE corner), with the possible use of white letters with red sides like the Red Door signs above this location. and passed by a unanimous vote. ADJOURNMENT was at 8:00 PM NEXT MEETING September 13, 2007 .' F4_ M MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD September 20, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: OTHER BUSINESS CITIZEN COMMENT NEW BUSINESS G. Summers, M. Tendam, J. Weiss W. Hallen None A motion was made to approve the August 9, 2007 meeting notes and passed by unanimous vote. None 1600 Sherman —The North Face Presented by Michael Curtis, Joni Jew #07SVF• -00007 The change from previous "cube" sign suspended from the building canopy to the wail signs mounted on the masonry piers was welcomed by the Board. It agrees with suggestions made by the Board and creates signage well integrated into the building design without sacrificing sign visibility. A memo from Justin Pelej, a Focus Development (owner) rep, asked that the sign be reduced to 48" square and that the bottom of the sign align with the bottom of the awning valences. These suggestions were accepted by both the Board and North Face representatives. A motion was made to approve the revised variation to the Uniform Business Center signage plan with the Focus suggested modifications and passed by a unanimous vote. 1622 Emerson -- Autobarn Outlet #07SVF- -00008 Presented by: Robert Fisher, Mark S.(GC for Autobarn) The roof mounted sign proposed for this used car sates location is not well defined in the Sign Regulations. It is not a freestanding sign and it is not a wall sign, but some composite of the two. The Board questioned the use of an illuminated sign on a lighted site across the street from senior citizen housing and were told that the occupants are aware of these conditions and welcome the activity to the location. They see this as a step towards improved security for the area and are pleased to see it happening. A Board member noted that the building, which was a Clark gas station in its previous life, almost called out for a sign on its roof. A motion was made to approve the proposed sign with he condition that the sign's illumination be turned off at 10:00 PM and passed by a unanimous vote. 1840 Oak — Acquirent Presented by: Pete Kaden #07SVF- -00010 This company has 45 employees and occupies most of the 3Id and O floors of the building, representing around 35% of the building floor area. They serve major national corporations, like Midas and Staples, to provide outsource sales teams for franchisees that may not have sufficient sales training or staff for new marketing ideas or opportunities. The presenter noted that even though a box sign is shown, individual letters on a raceway are intended. A very subtle color selection is proposed without intense hues. As a new company providing an unusual service it needs name recognition and identification to the general public to promote its business. With 26 other tenants in the building and only four stories in height the sign does not qualify as a fag building identification sign according to Sign Regulations' criteria. In the proposal it is noted that the sign will not be viewed from residential units which is not the case. Buildings with residential units to the west and north have full view of the sign location proposed. The sign is proposed with a translucent white back -round which is prohibited by the Sign Regulations. Board members and the presenter agreed that no ideal sign location could be found on the building fagade. The best solution appears to use the projecting brick strip as the location for a raceway mounted sign with individual letters. A Unified Business Center signage plan is required for the building. This plan could motivate approval of this sign by the Board if tall building signage was limited to tenant's occupying 30% or more of the building's rentable area. This would assure that the building would not be covered with tenant signage. A motion to table this proposal for resubmission at the next Board meeting was made with direction to incorporate the Board's suggestions into a Unified Business Center signage plan and passed by unanimous vote. 2424 Oakton — The Oakton Shoppes #07SVF- -00009 Presented by: Amy Fry Ms. Fry indicated that the Unified Business Center signage plan proposal was a work in progress and was intended to illicit comments from the Sign Board for Incorporation into the next iteration. General conditions that generated some of the signage layout that are not evident from simply looking at the proposal are: -the storage building occupies the largest portion of the site and will oversee the maintenance of the storm water retention area. -only the storage building owner and the medical building owners will be allowed on the center identification freestanding sign and possibly the internal Lot #2 undetermined owner. -colors shown are not firm and are subject to Board and client input. Freestanding signs: All the five freestanding signs and the center identification freestanding sign proposed will have uniform brick bases with limestone cap and blue top and bottom elements. The Board suggested a neutral color back -round for the sign text areas with one darker color for the text itself. Center Identification Sign: (by entry drive to Oakton Street) Board suggestions include removing the storage facility's arrow; possibly removing the storage facility's telephone number, matching the storage facility's text panel to its wall sign; removing the developer's name: use of very low level internal illumination; and no change to the sign size and height at the location proposed. Five Freestanding Signs: (three on frontage Oakton and two internal to the site) Only Board suggestions were removal of the freestanding sign on Oakton serving the retail building and permission for wall signs on both the north and south faces of this building; lowering of he freestanding sign on Oakton serving the bank location down to the level of the medical facility freestanding sign or lower; and removal of the washliubeifood texts on the freestanding sign on Oakton serving the gas station and inclusion of these uses in wall signs on the buildings. Wall Signs: Signage proposed high on the north and east faces of the storage building is shown as box signs but this is not firm at this point. The Board prefers signs with individual letters mounted on a raceway. After some discussion they agreed that the two signs were probably justified considering the buildings location on the site and the need for showing its existence, but questioned the use of such large and intensely colored CLIMATE CONTROLLED signage unless it is part of a registered trademark. They also questioned if the signs had to be as large as proposed. The presenter indicated that any other wall signs on the retail building; medical building; and future Lot #2 building would conform with the Sign Regulations. An exception to this would be the wall signs at the ends of the retail building are proposed at 17'-0" to the top of sign. Considering these sign locations are well integrated with the building design, the Board seems to think that the positions are justified. A motion to table this proposal for resubmission at the next Board meeting was made with direction to incorporate the Board's suggestions into a revised Unified Business Center Signage plan together with the development of more specific sign data and passed by unanimous vote. ADJOURNMENT was at 9:45 PM NEXT MEETING will be on October 11, 2007 t MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD October 11, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: OTHER BUSINESS CITIZEN COMMENT NEW BUSINESS 809 Davis — Red Mango Presented by: Seuna Park J. Maesai, G. Summers, M. Tendam, J. Weiss W. Hallen None A motion was made to approve the minutes of the 09/20/07 meeting and passed by unanimous vote. None #07SVF- -00011 The presenter indicated that the proposed awning color is changed to brown, not the red shown on the submission. Wall sign shown is the corporate logo for this retail chain with over 100 outlets in Korea. The Board questioned the proposed use of an off-white raceway, which would be very visible, and wondered why the wall sign was not the same length (or shorter) as the stone band and awning. Use of a logo on an awning is permitted by the Sign Regulations and does not require a variation. The proposed blade sign was not in the normal location for this kind of sign, but lowering the sign would obscure it. It seemed redundant to the Board and fell into the signage "overkill" class. A motion was made to approve the wall sign using a raceway matching the brick color and shortening the sign length to agree with the awning length: changing the awning color to brown; and removing the blade sign from the proposal and passed by unanimous vote. 2424 Oakton — The Oakton Shoppes #07SVF- -00009 Presented by: Amy Fry The presenter noted that the proposal has been revised to agree with the Board's suggestions made at the previous meeting. Board members questioned some details of the Unified Business Center signage plan and were assured that: -Ail the freestanding signs will have a common design with cream background color, blue strips top + bottom: and brick to match the building adjacent to the sign location. -The gas station complex final signage will require a sign variation and the Board's concern about the size and brightness of digital gas price signs will be addressed at that review time. -Only sign proposal 131 asks for approval of the sign face shown, all other ask only for generic approval of the overall sign arrangement. -For signs C1 and C2 approval is not requested for the specific copy, just for the location, height, and type of sign to be used. The presenter has discussed the use of large letters saying "CLIMATE CONTROLLED" with the business owner and it is a very important part of their sales message to the public which makes them more attractive to use than other facilities. -Exact color for blue back lit letters is important and the designer has used the color proposed in other locations successfully. A motion was made to approve the Unified Business Center signage plan with the aforementioned assurances and passed by unanimous vote. ADJOURNMENT was at 8:10 PM NEXT MEETING will be on 11/08/07 MINUTES of the SIGN REVIEW AND APPEALS BOARD November 8, 2007 Meeting Evanston Civic Center - Room 2404 MEMBERS PRESENT: J. Macsai, G. Summers, M. Tendam, J. Weiss STAFF PRESENT: W. Hallen OTHERS PRESENT: None OTHER BUSINESS a motion was made to approve the minutes of the 10/11/07 meeting and passed by a unanimous vote. CITIZEN COMMENT None NEW BUSINESS 904- 914 Sherman — Unified Business Center (UBC)sIgnage plan #07SVF- -00012 Presented by: Andres Roman The presenter clarified the proposal by indicating that no wail signs are included. A Board member noted that scalloped apron edges have not been used in Evanston and they restrict signage on this element. All Board members expressed concern about the awning's mounting on "concrete" (limestone?) rather than on the storefront framing. The building has a strong bay expression that would be altered if the awnings lapped over the limestone piers. A green fabric color sample was presented and use of yellow text was confirmed. A motion was made to approve the UBC with the conditions that: -the awning framing be attached to he window frames and not lap over the existing limestone piers. -the awning apron be straight and not scalloped and the awning signage conform to the Sign Regulations. and passed by unanimous vote. 1570 Elmwood — The Winthrop Club #07SVF- -00013 Presented by: Chad Baugh The presented noted an error in the proposal. The temporary sign length should be 136 ft., not the 157 ft. given. When questioned, he indicated that the "life style" images on the signage were intended to reflect the projects occupants life change by buying in this project. The Board generally approved the proposed temporary sales signage but asked the purpose of the end signs at right angle to the street. These were to allow views from Davis and Grove Street, according to the presenter and he noticed that the latest text for these sign panels has not been given to the Board. The revision lowers the amount of text and was well received by the Board. A motion was made to approve the temporary signage with the revised end panel text and passed with G. Summers abstaining, ADJOURNMENT was at 8:15 PM NEXT MEETING December 13, 2007