Design panel backs mural and recommends signage variance for climbing facility

The Downtown Design Commission voted June 18 to approve a repainting and mural proposal for a climbing facility and to recommend a variance to the Board of Adjustment for oversized wall signage.

Laura Griggs, Planning Department staff, said the operator has repainted a previously approved mural on the north facade and now proposes two large signs (about 540 square feet each) on the silo-like structures that exceed the 400-square-foot guideline for wall signage. Griggs said staff could not find records showing prior formal approval for the existing signage and noted the applicant has submitted a Board of Adjustment variance application scheduled for the same afternoon.

Mark Zizai of Johnson and Associates, representing the applicant, asked the commission to recommend approval and to forward a variance request to the Board of Adjustment for the signs. He argued the citywide sign standard creates an impractical cap for very large industrial buildings and that departments have historically interpreted the code inconsistently. "We think it was a miss in how it was actually written and then adopted," Zizai said, asking the panel to allow the Board of Adjustment to resolve the interpretation.

Griggs acknowledged differing historical interpretations of the sign code and said the planning division is working on revisions to clarify whether the 400-square-foot allowance applies per building or per facade. Commissioners, including Chair Eric Schmidt, expressed support for repainting an existing painted surface and described the proposed mural and signage as sympathetic to the site's artistic character. The commission then moved and seconded motions to approve the application and to recommend the variance to the Board of Adjustment; both motions passed.

The Board of Adjustment will consider the variance request at its advertised hearing. Staff noted that an official variance must be granted by that board before the larger signs could be permitted.