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Wednesday, August 20, 2008 | Archives |
FeedsOfficials revisit sign ordinance in Canton
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Proposed changes to the Canton sign ordinance will help people find their way through strip malls, according to township officials.
The changes, presented by consultants from Hamilton Anderson Associates on Monday night, include new provisions for “multiple-tenant” signs that promote several stores within a strip mall—something Canton has not allowed for years.
“We found out that the ordinance was a little outdated,” said Jeff Mason of Hamilton Anderson.
Mason and fellow consultant Zachary Branigan said they studied several signs in Canton to determine how to unify Ford Road and Canton in general.
“There’s some good (signs), some bad and some challenging things,” said Mason.
The multi-tenant signs were the subject of much discussion at the presentation before several groups, including members of the board of trustees, the planning commission, the zoning board of appeals and business owners in attendance.
The recommended ordinance would require a developer of a multiple-tenant center greater than either 40,000 square feet or four acres to submit a “master sign plan” early in the development process, which would denote what the sign would look like and where it would be placed. The sign couldn’t be higher than 15 feet or wider than 6 feet.
“Folding this into site plan approval makes so much sense,” said Trustee Karl Zarbo. “If you think of it, we really (currently) look at signs after the fact.”
The current law only allows shopping centers to have individual ground signs, which are usually reserved for the major tenants. The new law would effectively encourage developers to swap ground signs for the multi-tenant signs, resulting in “less signage, but more effective signage” said Branigan.
“It might not work everywhere, but we want to allow that to happen,” he said.
The new ordinance would legalize other forms of signs, such as “blade” signs, which hang perpendicular from an awning or roof and are directed at pedestrians along a strip mall. The ordinance would also define and allow for way-finding signage within large centers, designed to keep motorists inside the shopping center longer.
Trustee and planning commissioner Melissa McLaughlin said she would like smaller centers to get multi-tenant signs. She noted that nationally-recognized anchor stores have all the visibility they need, while “mom-and-pop” stores in centers with no anchor risk becoming overlooked.
The consultants said they would explore a scaled-down multi-tenant sign for smaller centers, though officials noted that private landlords largely control who gets onto such a sign.
Existing signs that don’t conform to the new standards, such as the shopping center at Cherry Hill and Haggerty roads, would still be allowed.
Officials also seek to rein in superfluous signage on particular types of buildings. The ordinance would prohibit “add-on signs”—signs that exceed the allotted square footage and advertise services, such as a convenience store that would add a “24-Hour Pharmacy” sign to outdoor walls.
Copyright © 2006 Journal Newspapers. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 Journal Newspapers. All rights reserved.