Town Oaks-CS041216CASE NO.:
CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
PD-209-C, TownOaks Centre
P & Z HEARING DATE:
C.C. HEARING DATE:
December 16, 2004 (Public Hearing continued from the
Commission's 11/18/04 meeting. Additional staff co~nments are
italicized and in bold print. )
January 11, 2005
STAFF REP.:
Marcie Diamond, Assistant Director of Planning
LOCATION:
120 S. Denton Tap Road (southeast corner of Denton Tap and
Sandy Lake Roads).
SIZE OF AREA:
8.6 acres of property
CURRENT ZONING:
C (Commercial)
REQUEST:
APPLICANT:
HISTORY:
Page 1 of 7
PD-209-C (Planned Development-209-Commercial) to allow
variances to the City's Sign Ordinance regarding two monument
signs and attached signage.
Alen Hinckley
Coppell Village, LTD.
12201 Merit Drive, Suite 170
Dallas, Texas 75251
(972) 991-4600
FAX: (972) 991-7500
This property was originally platted into four lots in 1984. Lot 1,
was platted for a restaurant pad site (now Kelly's), Lots 2 and 4
for "strip" retail and Lot 3 for a Minyards grocery store. In March
of that year, the Board of Adjustment granted a variance to the
required 10-foot front yard, decreasing the landscape setback by
one to seven feet. The applicant contended that they had already
Item # 4
TRANSPORTATION:
drawn the plans, etc, prior to the adoption of the ordinance
requiring 10 feet of landscaping and that providing the 10 feet
would create a hardship (current ordinances would require a
minimum of 15 feet of landscaping along street rights-of-way).
Denton Tap Road is a six-lane divided thoroughfare built to
standard within a 120-foot right-of-way.
SURROUNDING LAND USE & ZONING:
North - Frost Bank and Tom Thumb shopping center; TC (Town Center)
South - Braewood shopping center; C (Commercial)
East - Braewood West subdivision; SF-7 (Single Family-7)
West - McDonalds, Exxon gas station; R (Retail)
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
The Comprehensive Plan of May 1996 shows the property
as suitable for mixed uses.
DISCUSSION:
The applicant is requesting to place the existing TownOaks shopping
center under a PD to allow for significant variances to the Sign
Ordinance for their proposed attached and monument signs. Also being
requested is a revised facade, incorporating EFIS to accent the major
tenants of this center. The fafade has been revised to red brick to
match the existing center.
Understanding that encouraging the occupancy of our older, underutilized,
shopping centers is a Council goal, and in the best interest of the community
as a whole, there is an overriding concern of the impact that granting of all
these variances will have on the future of this City. The standards set forth
in the CIVIC Report and codified as part of the Zoning Ordinance in 2002
demonstrates the importance of sustaining the aesthetic values of our
community. Some of the applicant's requests are in direct conflict with
those actions. If granted, as submitted, it is reasonable to assume that similar
consideration will be requested by existing and future retailers in Coppell.
Therefore, this application must be carefully evaluated and measured against
any future negative precedence the granting of this request might generate.
With regard to the signage request, and as evidenced by the Princeton Park
signage application, the provision of the new ordinance can accommodate
the needs of the tenants, while maintaining the aesthetic value and character
that we have worked so hard to obtain. Each variance requested in this
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Item# 4
application was analyzed individually in terms of its aesthetic value and
potential impact on the community as follows:
VARIANCES TO ATTACHED SIGNS:
REGULATION:
Sec. 12.29-4.3.(A) Attached signs:
i. Attached signs shall consist of individually mounted channel
letters in white, ivory, black or neutral colors. Raceways shall
match the color of the materials to which they are mounted.
Ail illumination shall be limited to white or off-white. Loges in
any color shall be permitted, but shall not exceed 20 percent
of the area of the sign.
SIGN STAFF REVISED REQUEST/
VARIANCES REQUESTED RECOMMENDATION RECOMMENDATION
Red being the predominate color DENIAL - Adherence to the Sign revised to be white
(approximately 60%) of the attached ordinance requirements for channel letters, with two
sign with the remaining letters being white, ivory, black or neutral small red horizontal stripes,
white, colors is recommended. The however the sign has been
Sign Ordinance which permits increased in size, see below.
loges OF ANY COLOR to be up
to 20% of the sign allows for
franchise recognition. Refer to
the Market at Town Center as an
example of 100% compliance
with this regulation.
The letters will be individually APPROVAL - The black metal APPROVAL - NOT
mounted, however, they are plate is included in the area of REVISED SINCE INITIAL
mounted onto a black metal plate the sign, and the letters are REQUEST.
which provides a framing for sign, individually mounted to allow
instead of a raceway which matches for a shadowing effect and
the color of the material to which it therefore merits approval.
is mounted.
One additional non-conforming sign DENIAL - There is no tenant - DENIAL - NOT REVISED
(one non-conforming color in the existing sign regulations SINCE INITIAL
addition to black) is requested to be should prevail. REQUEST.
permitted for a future lease space Elevation and notes needs to
which exceeds 10,000-square feet. be revised.
Page 3 of 7
REGULATION:
Sec. 12-29-4.3.(B) Effective Area:
"....attached signs are permitted a maximum aggregate effective
area equal to one-square foot per lineal foot of building or
leasehold frontage as applicable".
Item # 4
SIGN STAFF REVISED REQUEST/
VARIANCES REQUESTED RECOMMENDATION RECOMMENDATION
Express Fitness has 116 feet of APPROVAL This particular APPROVAL OF
linear frontage; therefore, a 116- sign, if compliant in terms of MEASURING THES1GN
square-foot attached sign is color, would be appropriate at ATANANGLE, BUT
permitted. This sign, if measured at the angle, as designed DENIAL OF THE
an angle, is 116-square feet. INCREASED SIZE - The
However, if measured as defined in attached sign has been
the Sign Ordinance, the effective increased in size to 150
area of the sign is approximately square feet, exceeding the
140-square feet. maximum allowed by
Ordinance by 34- square
feet, if measured at an
angle, as previously
supported. There is no
compelling reason to allow
an attached sign which is
30% larger than would be
permitted by the Sign
Ordinance. The exhibit
also includes a 116- square
foot sign which is compliant
with the Sign Ordinance,
and recommended for
approval.
VARIANCES TO MONUMENT SIGNS
REGULATION:
"Sec. 12-29-4.2(A) (recent ordinance amendment)
"ii. In the case of multi-tenant office and/or retail buildings, the
individual tenant names may be listed subject to:
(a) Individual tenant nameplates must be the uniform size, color
and font, in accordance with this ordinance.
(b) Minimum letter size shall be six inches..."
"No other advertising or promotional information is permitted
thereon. Such sign may be single or double-faced. Can signs
made of plastic or similar materials are not permitted as detached
(monument) signs. Back-lit plastic is not permitted within detached
(monument) signs."
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Item # 4
SIGN REVISED REQUEST/
VARIANCES REQUESTED STAFF RECOMMENDATION RECOMMENDATION
Two plates are twice the size of the APPROVAL - When this revision to APPROVAL - NOT
remaining 8 plates, the sign ordinance was written, it REVISED SINCE
was assumed to be applicable to non- INITIAL REQUEST
anchor strip retail and multi-tenant
I office buildings (i.e. Princeton
Park). It is reasonable to allow
major tenants (greater than 15,000-
square feet) to have larger signs.
t Given that all the name plates are the
same height, this variance merits
approval.
Minimum letter size is 5 inches DENIAL - As discussed during the DENIAL - LETTER
I Sign Ordinance amendment process, SIZE NOT REVISED
6-inch is the minimum letter size to SINCE INITIAL
allow for recognition at travel speeds REQUEST, ALSO
of 40 miles per hour. REQUESTING
VARIOUS FONTS-
DENIAL OF VARIETY
OF FONTS.
Requesting internally lit sign APPROVAL - Considering that the APPROVAL - NOT
name plates will be bronze, with cut- REVISED SINCE
out letters and the internally lit areas INITIAL REQUEST
will be limited to the letters, this
design, with controlled lighting, is in
i keeping with the intent of the
ordinance.
REGULATION:
"Sec. 12-29-4.2(C)
ii. Provided that the premises has frontage on more than one
street and that the frontage on each street is 500 feet or more,
two monument signs are permitted on premises greater than five
acres in size as follows:
Maximum size--60 square feet.
Maximum height--Six feet each.
Minimum setbacks--15 feet from street right-of-way, 75 feet
from property lines other than those property lines fronting
the street right-of-way.
Maximum number of signs--One per street frontage.
Maximum total number--Two.
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Item # 4
SIGN STAFF REVISED REQUEST/
VARIANCES REQUESTED RECOMMENDATION RECOMMENDATION
63-square feet DENIAL The area of a APPROVAL- SUBJECT TO
monument sign, and how it is THE ADDITIONAL THREE
measured is very specific in the SQUARE FEET IN SIZE
Ordinance, which includes "all BEING LIMITED TO THE
extremities of the sign" ARCH1TECTURALACCENT
(architectural accents) as part of(CORNICE MATCHING
the area calculation. This THE BUILDING) AS
proposed sign needs to be SHOWN ON THE SIGN
redesigned to be compliant with ELEVATION.
the ordinance.
Proposed Molmment Sign on Denton DENIAL - the existing DENIAL - THE REVISED
Tap Road to be set back 5 feet from monument sign is set back 12 PLAN INDICATES A TWO
thc property line feet from Denton Tap R.O.W., (2) FOOT SETBACK FROM
The erection of a new sign, THE PROPERTY LINE
which is in less conformance ALONG DENTON TAP
with the Sign Ordinance, is not FURTHER INCREASING
acceptable. Compliance with THE NON-CONFORMITY.
the 15-foot setback along NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE
Denton Tap is recommended. TO ADDRESS THE 15'
SETBACK REQUIRED BY
THE SIGN ORDINANCE.
Proposed Monument sign on Sandy APPROVAL - The existing DENIAL- THE REVISED
Lake Road to be set back one foot monument sign is being PLAN INDICATES AN ONE
from the property line. relocated out of the Sandy Lake (1) FOOT SETBACK FROM
Road R.O.W. It is THE PROPERTY LINE
recommended that the new sign ALONG SANDY LAKE, NO
be set back as far as possible ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO
from the property line within ADDRESS THE 15'
the existing island. SETBACK REQUIRED BY
THE SIGN ORDINANCE.
REVISED ELEVATIONS
Also being requested are revised elevations for a portion of the faCade of the shopping
center to incorporate EFIS entry features to accent the anchor tenants of this center~
This features contains two doors for the tenants, separated by an EFIS panel with three
green ceramic tie panels. These tiles are the same color as the existing accent tiles on
the building, which is an architecturally compatible element. However, the EFIS
features do not follow the same roof lines, heights, forms, details or materials as the
remainder of the building. While staff understands that the architecture of this 20 year
old center could benefit from some modernization, there is concern that this new faCade
treatment will appear as an after-thought if not redesigned to be more architecturally
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Item # 4
compatible with the existing building. Complementary accent features and details need
to be carried on throughout this center. The applicant has replaced the EFIS with
red brick to match the existing center, EFIS is now limited to an accent material for
the cornices. Decorative attached lighting and new storefront windows have been
added to the new fafade.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING ANq) ZONING COMMISSION:
Staff recommends the following:
· Attached Signs: Approval of the ll6-square-foot attached sign, installed at
the angle as shown, (denial of a 150-square foot sign)with letters being
individually mounted to black metal plate, with two horizontal red stripes,
subject to all letters being white, and denial of the second tenant sign until
such time that the tenant is known and the sign can be reviewed.
Monument Signs: Approval of the internally lit, bronze name plates, all
being the same height, but longer sign plates for tenants exceeding 15,000-
square feet, subject to minimum letter size being 6 inches; with consistent
font, the sign being a total of 63-square feet(the additional three square feet
being limited to the architectural accents); the sign along Denton Tap Road
being set back 15 feet from the property line; the monument sign along
Sandy Lake Road being removed from the street right-of-way and being set
back as far as possible from the property line, within the existing island.
Revised Elevations: Need to be redesigned to be more architecturally
compatible with the existing building (less EFIS, more brick, repeat existing
roof lines and details, etc.) - Approval as resubmitted
ALTERNATIVES
1)
2)
3)
4)
Recommend approval of the request
Recommend disapproval of the request
Recommend modification of the request
Take under advisement for reconsideration at a later date.
ATTACHMENTS:
1)
4)
Exhibit of site plan, elevations and signage
Letter from Applicant with 3 color attaclunents
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Item # 4