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Ashley Furniture owners plead for city help after sign-code dispute; staff says code review underway
Summary
Owners of a new Ashley Furniture store told council their $5 million investment is being undercut by a sign-code interpretation that left them without highway-facing signage; city staff said a zoning-code consultant is reviewing signage allowances and that a unified development code update will include options for highway-adjacent properties.
Owners of the Ashley Furniture store at Towne Park Drive addressed the Troy City Council Monday, saying a misinterpretation of the sign code by their contractor left them unable to install highway-facing signage the owners say is critical to visibility and sales.
Evan Goffney, who identified himself as an owner and operator, said the business has invested heavily and that confusion over the code has had real economic consequences. "The reason that we're here today is, to talk about the existing, signage codes that the city of Troy currently has," Goffney said during the citizen-comment portion.
Drew Goffney said the project represented about a $5,000,000 investment and that the owners had estimated annual sales of $5–6 million; he told council early sales have lagged and that customers report difficulty finding the store from the interstate. He said they have a second set of signs ready to install but cannot legally put them up under current code allowances without significant additional cost.
City staff said the code currently allows 100 square feet of signage for the property and that the contractor appears to have misinterpreted that allowance as 200 square feet. City staff told the owners the planning department has asked its consultant, who is preparing a unified development code update, to examine options for highway-abutting parcels including potential percentage-based allowances for additional signage where properties abut the interstate.
Staff said any change would come through the zoning-code update and would be brought back to council; the owners were told staff would continue to work with them and the consultant as the code review proceeds. Council did not take legislative action Monday; the item was a citizen comment and staff response.
