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Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 <br /> November 12,2013 <br /> Jennifer Wagner, 18544 Quincy Court—thanked staff for their work on the <br /> ordinance. She stated that the downtown group meets monthly to plan events and <br /> that they cannot be successful if they can't advertise. She stated that it is an uphill <br /> battle for the downtown businesses to compete with national and large scale <br /> businesses. She stated that the 80 percent window coverage is necessary for sign <br /> promotions. Ms.Wagner asked that the Planning Commission support the <br /> monument sign requested by Granite Shores. She stated that there are major events <br /> coming up that would benefit from the sign,including the tree lighting event and <br /> Hockey Day in 2014. She felt the advertising would greatly impact attendance for <br /> these events. <br /> Commissioner Konietzko asked if the ordinance could be written to allow this sign <br /> in this location, and smaller signs for smaller buildings. <br /> Commissioner Eric Johnson stated that he felt the sign request by Granite Shores <br /> was reasonable. Commissioner Konietzko stated he also would like to see the sign <br /> approved. Commissioner Eric Johnson stated he did not object to 18 feet maximum <br /> height and 64 square feet for a free standing sign. Zack Carlton noted that other <br /> multi-tenant buildings would then also be allowed to have similar signs. <br /> Commissioner Eric Johnson asked what other multi-tenant buildings are in the <br /> downtown. Mr. Barnhart stated that the Bank of Elk River,Jackson Place,Elk <br /> Dental Center and the building across from the dental center are examples. <br /> Mr. Barnhart noted that if free standing signs as proposed are allowed, they could be <br /> placed anywhere on a property. He asked if the Commission was comfortable <br /> opening the door for other properties to have similar signs and if such a sign would <br /> be appropriate on any of them,provided they would meet the setback requirement. <br /> Commissioner Konietzko asked if the monument sign was approved in the <br /> amendment at a lower height, Granite Shores could ask for a variance. Mr. Barnhart <br /> stated that he did not feel it was good practice to knowingly adopt an ordinance <br /> anticipating a variance immediately after approval. Also,he questioned why an <br /> ordinance would be adopted that was not consistent with the Mississippi <br /> Connections downtown plan. He stated that goal of the plan is make the downtown <br /> pedestrian friendly. <br /> Commissioner Eric Johnson stated he supported the suggestion from the Decklan <br /> Group email which proposed that the free standing signs be proportional to the size <br /> of a building. He stated that this is challenging in the downtown where the Granite <br /> Shores building is the largest building. He stated that the city's goal is to draft an <br /> ordinance that the business community can understand and is not encumbered by <br /> complicated calculations. Commissioner Eric Johnson stated that since they are <br /> using the building size for calculating wall signage,why they could not also use the <br /> size of the building for a monument sign. <br />