Commission recommends additional freestanding sign for University Health campus with brick‑faced monument condition

The Columbia County Planning Commission on Sept. 18 recommended approval of a master sign plan revision at the University Health medical campus (447 North Bel Air Road) to add a freestanding sign on North Bel Air Road identifying a surgery center now operated by Wellstar. Danielle, planning staff, said the campus’s 2013 master sign plan permitted additional freestanding signs along extended road frontages, and that the current revision aims to reflect a tenant change: the surgery center formerly displayed as Piedmont is now a Wellstar facility. “The purpose for the proposed sign is for the surgery center...the applicants are using that to request the additional sign as they need to make sure that it's clearly distinguished that the surgery center is now a Wellstar facility and not a Piedmont facility,” Danielle said. Staff recommended approval with a condition that the new freestanding sign be constructed as a double‑sided brick monument to match existing freestanding signs on the campus; the applicant provided revised graphics showing a brick base and sides and agreed to the condition. Mark Dry, representing Wellstar through Coorsco and Dry Design Group, said he had coordinated with staff on the masonry treatment and answered questions on design details. The commission voted to recommend approval with the brick‑faced monument condition; the motion carried. The recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for final action.