Homewood committee sends three sign-variance requests to public hearing, including Saint Vincent's and Birmingham Wholesale

The Homewood Special Issues Committee voted to set public hearings and refer three design-variance requests for signage to the special issues committee for consideration.

The committee set hearings for the following applications, each to be held in council chambers on May 6 (as announced in the meeting):
• 3125 Independence Drive — an application for EBI / EW Motion Therapy (applicant name in packet: Gina Childers) seeking signage relief; staff and committee discussed visibility from the road and monument signage, and asked the applicant and/or building owner to clarify whether the building owner will limit future tenant signage.
• 401 West Valley Avenue — Birmingham Wholesale (applicant James "DJ" Dean, with Wyatt Pugh) requested a design variance to allow a larger logo/graphic element so the sign will be more visible from the street given the building's long facade and setback; staff noted the proposed logo makes the sign roughly 42 inches versus the 36-inch height standard cited in the packet.
• Southern Immediate Care (Saint Vincent's Ascension), at an address in the packet listed in the record, which requested three variances: larger letter height (33 inches requested vs. 24-inch limit in the downtown district), an additional wall sign facing 31, and internal illumination (the downtown district permits external illumination only). Committee members asked the applicant to provide anticipated hours of operation before the hearing.

Applicants and their representatives described visibility concerns and business identification needs. "The sign gets lost in space," one applicant said of a long storefront; the applicant added that adding the logo element would bring the sign out and make it more visible. Applicants were told to bring building owners or additional documentation to the public hearing; staff said prior channel-letter signage exists in the shopping center and some of those signs predate the revised downtown signage ordinance.

For each item the committee voted to send the application out without recommendation and to set a hearing in council chambers. Votes on the motions were taken by voice and recorded in the meeting record as unanimous (5–0). Specific mover/second statements recorded in the transcript include a motion from "mister Sims" and a second from "mister Oman" for the 401 West Valley Avenue item, and a motion from "miss Andrews" seconded by "mister Almond" for the Southern Immediate Care item.

The committee did not approve the variances at this meeting; they set public hearings so that members of the public and applicants can present more information and so staff can collect outstanding materials before a final decision.