Staff Report-11/18/04 P&Z mtg.CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
CASE NO.: PD-209-C TownOaks Centre
P & Z HEARING DATE:
C.C. HEARING DATE:
November 18, 2004
December 14, 2004
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:
Approval to construct two, internally lit, 63-s.f. monument signs and
to allow multi-colored attached signs for tenants exceeding 10,000-
s.f. (maximum of two) and revised facade elevations.
APPLICANT:
HISTORY:
Page 1 of 7
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 Mtnyards 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 feet. The applicant contended that they had already drawn the
plans, etc, prior to the adoption of the ordinance requiring 10 feet
Item#5
TRANSPORTATION:
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 Nights-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 ce~ater; 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 fafade, incorpora!ing EFIS to accent the major
tenants of this center.
Page 2 of 7
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 sustainir~g the aesthetic values of our
community. Some of the applicant's reqpests 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
application was analyzed individually in terms of its aesthetic value and
potential impact on the community as follows:
Item #5
VARIANCES TO ATTACHED SIGNS:
REGULATION:
Sec. 12-29-4.3.(A) Attached signs:
i. Attached signs shall consist of iqdividually mounted channel
letters in white, ivory, black or ngutral colors. Raceways shall
match the color of the materials ~o which they are mounted.
All illumination shall be limited tc~ white or off-white. Logos in
any color shall be permitted, but shall not exceed 20 percent
of the area of the sign.
STAFF
VARIANCES REQUESTED R~COMMENDATION
Red being the predominate color DENIAL- Adherence to the
(approximately 60 %) of the attached ordinance requirements for
sign with the remaining letters being white, ivory, black or neutral
white, 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 the Market at Town
Center as an example of 100%
compliance with this
regulation.
The letters will be individually APPROVAL - The black
mounted, however, they are metal plate is included in the
mounted onto a black metal plate a~ea of the sign, and the
which provides a framing for sign, letters are individually
instead of a raceway which matches mounted to allow for a
the color of the material to which it shadowing effect and therefore
is mounted, n~erits approval.
One additional non-conforming sign DENIAL - There is no tenant
(one non-conforming color in - the existing sign regulations
addition to black) is requested to be should prevail.
permitted for a future lease space
which exceeds 10,000-square feet.
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 REQUESTED STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
Express Fitness has 116 feet of APPROVAL This particular
linear frontage; therefore, a 116- sign, if compliant in terms of
square-foot attached sign is color, would be appropriate at
permitted. This sign, if measured at the angle, as designed.
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.
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 iR not permitted within detached
(monument) signs."
VARIANCES REQUESTED STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
Two plates are twice the size of the APPROVAL When this
remaining 8 plates, revision to the sign ordinance
v~as written, it was assumed to
be applicable to non-anchor
s~rip retail and multi-tenant
office buildings (i.e. Princeton
Park). It is reasonable to
allow major tenants (greater
than 15,000-square feet) to
have larger signs. Given that
all the name plates are the
same height, this variance
merits approval.
Page 4 of 7
Item//5
Minimum letter size is 5 inches DENIAL As discussed
dtlring the Sign Ordinance
arOendment process, 6-inch is
the minimum letter size to
allow for recognition at travel
sReeds of 40 miles per hour.
Requesting internally lit sign APPROVAL - Considering
that the name plates will be
brOnze, with cut-out letters,
and the internally lit areas will
bi limited to the letters, this
de, sign, with controlled
lighting, is in keeping with the
in[ent of the ordinance.
REGULATION:
"Sec. 12-29-4.2(C)
ii. Provided that the premises ~as frontage on more than one
street and that the frontage on eac~ 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 fromlstreet 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.
VARIANCES REQUESTED S'['AFF
R ECOMMENDATION
63-square feet D ENIAL - The area of a
rrmnument sign, and how it is
measured is very specific in the
O~dinance, which includes "all
extremities of the sign"
(architectural accents) as part of
the area calculation. This
p~Oposed sign needs to be
r0designed to be compliant with
tt~e ordinance.
Proposed Monument Sign on Denton DENIAL - the existing
Tap Road to be set back 5 feet fi.om n~onument sign is set back 12
the property line feet from Denton Tap R.O.W,
The erection of a new sign,
Page 5 of 7
Item #5
which is in less conformance
with the sign ordinance, is not
acceptable. Compliance with
the 15-foot setback along
D~nton Tap is recommended.
Proposed Monument sign on Sandy APPROVAL The existing
Lake Road to be set back one foot monument sign is being
from the property line. 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 existing island.
REVISED ELEVATIONS
Also being requested are revised elevations for a portior~ of the fagade of the shopping
center to incorporate EFIS entry features to accent the anchor tenants of this center. This
features contains two doom 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, them is concern that this new fa¢ade treatmem will
appear as an after-thought if not redesigned to be mom arahitecturally compatible with the
existing building. Complementary accent features and details need to be carried on
throughout this center.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION:
Staff recommends the following:
· Attached Signs: Approval of the 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 0f 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 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.
Page 6 of 7
Item #5
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.)
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)
2)
3)
4)
Exhibit of site plan, elevations and signage
Color details of attached signage ( 3 pages)
Color pictures of Monument Sign examples (provided by the applicant)
Color pictures of Attached Sign examples (provided by the applicant)
Page 7 of 7
Item #5