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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand Use Review Commission - MINUTES - 02/13/20252/13/25 – LURC MINUTES – APPROVED 1 Land Use Review Commission REGULAR MEETING Thursday, February 13, 2025 – 8:30 AM City Council Chambers, City Hall – 300 Laporte Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80521 1. CALL TO ORDER: 8:30 AM 2. ROLL CALL Board Members Present – Coffman, Lawton, Shuff, Vogel, McCoy Board Members Absent – San Filippo, Carron Staff Members Present – Noah Beals, Kory Katsimpalis, Madelene Shehan Guest(s) – NONE 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION -NONE- 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commission member Coffman made a motion, seconded by Vice-Chair Lawton, to approve the January 9, 2025, Minutes as written. The motion passed unanimously. 5. VARIANCE REQUESTS a. APPEAL ZBA250001 Address: 415 S Mason St Owner/Petitioner: Debra Ryan, Owner, Restaurant 415 Zoning District: D Code Section: 5.16.2 Project Description: There are two requests associated with this variance application: 1. An after the fact request for an existing 9-foot-tall painted wall sign to exceed the maximum allowable height by 4.5 feet. The maximum allowable height for this sign type and site conditions is 4.5 feet. 2. An after the fact request to exceed the maximum allowable sign are allowance for the property to account for the painted wall sign. Based on overall sign allowance based on property frontage, this property currently has 117 square feet of additional allowable sign area available. The sign in question is approximately 207 square feet. The request is to therefore exceed the amount of available sign area allowance by 90 square feet. *The project description was subsequently updated after public posting; please refer to the Staff Report included in Agenda Packet for updated description and sign measurements* Staff Presentation: Beals presented slides relevant to the appeal and discussed the variance request, noting that the property is located near W Magnolia and W Mason Streets, just south of W Magnolia St. The building was originally built as a laundry mat and has since been converted into a restaurant. The request today is to obtain a permit for a wall sign (mural) that was painted directly onto the side of the building. Beals presented street-view photographs of the property, noting that the sign in question is not visible from the front of the building. Beals explained that at times property owners may place a sign/mural on the Docusign Envelope ID: 00FD4AEF-E879-495F-9EBD-19986500EB1D 2/13/25 – LURC MINUTES – APPROVED 2 building with thinking that it is considered artwork but may not realize that per Code this type of artwork/mural is considered to be a sign. The first message within the top of the sign (displaying the text “Restaurant 415”) is oversized height. In this zone district, the maximum size height is 4.5 feet; the sign exceeds this heigh by an additional 1.33 feet. The second message within the lower portion of the sign (displaying the text “Think Local”) does not exceed the sign height allowance but does exceed the overall allowable sign square footage that is allowed for the property. Beals noted that the project description and measurements have been updated since the original posting, and the request is now treating the wall mural as two separate signs with separate messages. Measurements were thus taken of each sign separately which resulted in a decreased area that is calculated as over the allowable sign area. This sign is on the north side of the building, facing into the business parking lot. From street view, the sign is not visible from the public right of way until entering the drive for the parking lot. Referencing other signs on the building, Beals noted they currently count against the sign allowance; remaining allowance is not enough to include the sign in question, leading to the need for a variance request. Commission member McCoy asked Beals if the north side of the building is considered to be along Mason? Beals answered no, the sign allowance is generated by the east side of the building, which is along the frontage of public right of way. Signs can be placed on any side of the building. Applicant Presentation: Applicant Debra Ryan, owner, Restaurant 415, addressed the Commission and offered comment. Ryan stated that when the sign was created, it was done as an attempt to stay open in a tough environment for small businesses. The goal was to generate interest and visits to the business and improve visibility. Ryan noted she was a previous owner of Snooze and previous member of the DDA. The sign is another way to drive foot and vehicle traffic to their business. Ryan noted her commitment to Old Town and desire to remain in business. Public Comment: -NONE- Commission Discussion: Commission member Coffman is in support of the variance, believing the sign was put up in good faith and without malice. Other buildings in the area include mural signs of similar size and style. Vice-Chair Lawton notes some mitigating issues that affect vehicular traffic into the restaurant location and appreciates the desire to improve visibility. The character of the city includes many murals and public artworks, and this sign is not out of character considering other works in the area. Lawton is in support of the variance. Commission member McCoy is in support of the variance, noting it has a “Super Woman” vibe. Commission member Vogel is in support of the variance request. Chair Shuff is in support of the variance, noting the potential hardship created by the located of the business along the Mason Street corridor. Commission member Coffman made a motion, seconded by member Vogel to APPROVE ZBA250001, regarding the requested variance to Land Use Code Sections 5.16.2 to allow a painted wall sign to exceed the maximum allowable height of 4.5 feet by an additional 1.33 feet, and to exceed the property’s maximum allowable sign area allowance of 114 square feet by an additional 67 square feet, as shown in the materials for this hearing. Docusign Envelope ID: 00FD4AEF-E879-495F-9EBD-19986500EB1D 2/13/25 – LURC MINUTES – APPROVED 3 The Commission finds that the variance would not be detrimental to the public good; and the variance will not diverge from Section 5.16.2 except in a nominal and inconsequential way and will continue to advance the purposes of the Land Use Code contained in section 1.2.2 in consideration of the following facts: the side of the building has limited view from the public right of way; and the sign heigh varies through the message, and some parts of the message do comply with Section 5.16.2. This decision is based upon the agenda materials, the information and materials presented during this hearing, and the Commission discussion on this item. Further, this Commission hereby adopts the information, analysis, findings of fact, and conclusions regarding this variance contained in the staff report included in the agenda materials for his hearing. Yeas: Coffman, Lawton, Shuff, Vogel, McCoy Nays: Absent: San Filippo, Carron 6. OTHER BUSINESS Reminder that next month (March) will be the last month of service for two members due to term limits. 7. ADJOURNMENT The Meeting was adjourned at 8:48 AM. Mintes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Commission on 3/13/2025. Signature____________________________________ Date___________________ Docusign Envelope ID: 00FD4AEF-E879-495F-9EBD-19986500EB1D March 24, 2025