Town Oaks-CS041118CASE NO.:
CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
PD-209-C, TownOaks Centre
P & Z ItEARING DATE:
('.C. ItEARING DATE:
November 18. 2004
December 14, 2004
STAFF REP.:
Marcie Diamond, Assistant Director of Planning
I.OCATION:
120 S. Denton Tap Road (southeast corner of Denton Tap and
Sandy Lake Roads).
SIZE OF AREA:
8.6 acres of property
('[ :RRENT ZONING:
C (Commercial)
REQUEST:
Approx al to construct two. internally lit, 63-s.f. monument signs and
to allow nmlti-colored attached signs for tenants exceeding 10,000-
s.f. (nmximum of two) and revised fagade elevations.
APPliCANT:
11iSTORY:
Page 1 of 7
Alcn Hinckley
Coppcll 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 I,
was plutted for a restaurant pad site (now Kelly's), Lots 2 and 4
It)r "strip" retail and 1,or 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 1
to 7 fkct. The applicant contended that they had already drawn the
plans, etc, prior to the adoption nf thc ordinance requiring 10 feet
Item #5
FRANSPORTAT1ON:
of landscaping and that providing the 10 feet of landscaping 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
Soulh - Braewood shopping center: C (Commercial)
East - Bracwood 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:
Page 2 of 7
The applicant is requesting to place the existing TownOaks shopping
center under a PD to allow for siguificant variances to the Sign
Ordinance for their proposed attached and monuinent signs. Also being
requested is a revised fagade, incorporating EFIS to accent the major
tenants of this center.
Understanding that encouraging the occupancy of our older, underutilized,
shopping centers is a Council goal, and iii the best intcrcst of the corm~mnity
as a whole, there is au overriding concern of the impact that granting of all
these vmdances will have on the fulurc of this City. The stmadards set [brth
in the CIVIC Report and codified as part of thc Zorn'rig Ordinance m 2002
denlonstrates the importance of sustaining thc acstbetie 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 requcstcd by existing and £uture retailers in Coppell.
Therefore, this application must bc cm'e£ully evaluated aud nlcasured
against any flttnre negative precedence the granting o1' this request might
generate.
With regard to the signagc request, and as evidenced by the Princeton Park
signage application, the provision of the new ordinance can accommodate
thc needs of tile tenants, while maintaining the aesthetic value and character
that we have worked so hard to obtain. Each variance requested in this
application was analyzed individually in terms of its aesthetic value and
potential impacl on the commundy as follows:
Item #5
VARIANCES TO ATTACHED SIGNS:
R~;GUI. ATION:
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.
All illumination shall be limited to white or off-white. Logos in
any color shall be permitted, but shall not exceed 20 percent
of the area of the sign.
~ VARIANCES REQUESTED
Red being the predominate color
i (approximately 60%) of the attached
sign with the remaining letters being
white.
The letters will be individually
mounted, however, they are
mounted onto a black metal plate
which provides a framing for sign,
instead of a raceway which matches
the color of the material to which it
is mounted.
One additional mm conforming sign
(one non-contbrming color in
addition lo black) is requested to be
permitted for a future lease space
which exceeds 10,000-square feet.
STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
DENIAL -Adhcrcnce to lhe
ordinance rcquircments for
white, ivory, black or neutral
colors is recommended. The
Sign Ordinance which permits
logos OF ANY COLOR to be
up to 20% of the sign allows
for franchise recognition.
Refer to thc Market at Town
Center as an example o£ 100%
compliance with this
regulation.
APPROVAL - The black
metal plate is included in tile
area of the sign, and the
letters are individually
lnounted to allow for a
shadowing effect and therefore
merits ap~proval.
~EN¥~xL There is no tenant
- the existing sign regulations
should prevail.
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".
Page 3 of 7
Item #5
VARIANCES REQ[ ESTED ~
Express Fimess has 116 feet ofI
linear frontage; therctbre, a 116-,~
STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
square-foot attached sign is
permitted. This sign, if measured at
an angle, is ll6-square feet.
However, if measured as defined in
!the Sign Ordinance, the effective
area of the sign is approximately
140 square feet.
APPROVAL This particular
sign, if compliant in terms of
color, would be appropriate at
the angle, as designed.
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,"
VARIANCES REQUESTED
Two plates are lwice thc size of the
remaining 8 plates.
STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
APPROVAL When this
revision to the sign ordinance
was written, it was assumed to
be applicable to non-anchor
strip retail and multi4enam
office buildings (i.e. Princeton
Park). It is reasonable to
allow major tenants (greater
than 15,000-square f~et) to
have larger signs. Given that
ali the name plates are thc
same height, this variance
merits approval.
Page 4 of 7
Item #5
Minimum letter size is 5 inches
Requesting internally' lit sign
DENIAL As discussed
during the Sign Ordinance
amendment process, 6-inch is
the minimum letter size to
allow for recognition at travel
.s_'peeds of 40 miles per hour.
APPROVAL Considering
that the name plates will be
bronze, with cut-out letters,
and the internally lit areas will
be limited to the letters, this
design, with controlled
lighting, is in keeping with thc
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 riqht-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.
VARIANCES REQUESTED
63-square fcct
, Proposed Monument Si~n on Denton
[Tap Road to be set back 5 fed fi'om
I file property linc
STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
DENIAL The area of a
monument sign, and how it is
measured is vc~T specific in the
Ordinance, which includes "all
cxtrcmities of the sign"
(architectural accents) as part of'
thc area calculation. This
proposed sign needs to be
redesigned to be compliant with
thc ordinance.
DENIAL the existing
monument sign is set back 12
feet from Denton Tap R.O.W,
The erection of a new~!gn~
Page 5 of 7
ltein #5
Proposed Monument sign on Sandy
l.ake Road to be set back one tbot
from thc prope~2y line.
which is in less conformance
wilh the sign ordinmlce, is not
acceptable. Compliance with
thc 15-foot setback along
Denton Tap is recommcndcd.
APPROVAL Tile existing
monument sign is being
relocated out of the Sandy Lake
Road R.O.W. It is
recommended that the new sign
be set back as far as possible
from the property line within
the exist!_ng island.
REVISED ELEVATIONS
Also being requestcd arc revised elevations for a portion of thc fagade of the shopping
center to incorporatc EFIS ent~.'y features to accent tile anchor tenants of this ccnter. This
features contains two doors for the tenants, scparalcd by an EFIS panel with three green
ceramic tie panels. These tiles arc tile same color as the existing accent tiles on the
building, which is an architecturally compatible clement. Howcver, the EFIS features do
not follow Ibc same roof lines, heights, forms, details or materials as the rcmainder of lbo
building. While staff understands that thc architecture of this 20 year old center could
benefit from some modernization, there is concern that this new fa¢ade treatment will
appear as an after-thought if not redesigned to be more architecturally compatible with the
existing building. Con~plcmentary accenl features and details need to bc carried on
throughonI this center.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION:
Staff reconmlcnds thc ibllowing:
* Attached Signs: Approval of tile 116 square-foot sign, installed at the angle
as shown, with letters being individually mounted to black metal plate,
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; the sign being a
total of 60-square feet; the sign along Denton Tap Road being set hack 15
feet from tile property line; the monmnent sign along Sandy Lake Road
being removed from the street right-of-way and being set back as far as
possible l'ronl the property line, within the existing island.
Page 6 of 7
Item #5
Revised Elevations: Need to be redesigned Io bc more architecturally
compatible with tile existing building Iless EFIS, more brick, repeat existing
roo£ lines and details, etc.)
AIA'ERNATIVES
I)
2)
3)
4)
Recommend approval of the request
Recommend disapprox al of the request
Recommend modification of thc request
Take under advisement for reconsideration at a later (hate.
ATTA( HMENTS:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Exhibit of site plan, elevations and signage
Color details of attached signagc ( 3 pages)
Color pictures of Monument Sign examples (provided by thc applicant)
Color pictures of Attached Sign examples (provided by thc applicant)
Page 7 of 7
Item #5