The Village of Waynesville Planning Board approved a site plan for outdoor seating and granted a signage waiver for Squeeze Juicery at 5712 Main St. during its Jan. 6, 2025 meeting, attaching multiple conditions covering landscaping, safety railings, signage treatment and a requirement that a historic marker be installed before the patio opens to the public.

Why it matters: The approvals allow a 342-square-foot second-floor/roofline patio and associated outdoor seating while establishing conditions meant to ensure pedestrian safety, preserve sight lines and protect local historic interpretation.

Site plan approval and conditions
The board approved the site plan review for a roughly 7,200-square-foot two-story building that currently provides 34 parking spaces (the site requires 18). The applicant proposed a new 342-square-foot patio along the building's Main Street frontage with seating and tables; the design team said the patio will not obstruct required sight lines for drivers and that it is set back from the curb.

Key conditions attached to the site-plan approval include:
- Install the historic marker required by the board's June 3, 2019 condition before the patio may be used by the public; the board said the marker must be in place prior to opening the patio.
- The patio shall match the existing west-end patio in material, design and color, including the guard/railing style.
- Revise sheet C7 of the site plans to add a legend depicting vegetation type and to show required trees in parking-lot islands; the applicant agreed to add the trees and meet the landscape architect's specifications (the plan showed 69 landscape units, exceeding the 34 required units).
- The applicant must confirm the proposed patio meets the code's separation/buffer requirements for seasonal outdoor seating (either 10-foot buffer or an approved vehicle barrier or elevated platform); the applicant said the distance from the patio edge to the curb is 17 feet, which exceeds the 10-foot buffer requirement cited in the code.
- The patio shall include a railing to match the material and style used on the existing west-end patio; if a railing is required to meet the separation standard, it should be consistent with existing design cues.
- Umbrellas on the patio shall not display text on initial installation and shall be addressed separately via the outdoor-seating permit process.

Historic marker, safety and line-of-sight
The applicant and the board discussed sight-line requirements. The applicant said they used the state Department of Transportation design manual and produced a sight-line diagram showing 335 feet of visibility from the stop bar in the relevant approach, and that the patio would be out of the required sight triangle. The board required that a field marker be placed to confirm sight-line assumptions prior to opening the patio.

Signage waiver and sign design approval
Separately, the board granted a waiver from the village sign code to allow internally-appearing reverse-channel ("halo") lettering and cumulative sign area on the building facade that exceeded the strict numerical area limit. The board approved the Main Street (frontage) sign with the following modifications:
- The sign lettering shall be reverse-channel letters as submitted and mounted on an aluminum pan with a matte white face.
- The pan sides (the pan edges) may be painted green, orange or black to visually match tenant branding; the pan shall have a 3-inch depth.
- Dimension limits: the pan shall provide up to 4 inches of additional face space above the letters, up to 4 inches below the letters, and not to exceed 8 inches of additional pan on either side of the text and logo; the board limited the overall letter area to the dimensions discussed in the packet (letters area reported in packet: 33.75 square feet for the primary sign face).
- The North Ellicott Street sign was approved as non-illuminated and to be mounted centered horizontally and vertically in its sign panel.

Motions and vote
- Site plan review (Log2025PBO15712): Board moved to approve the site plan with the conditions above; motion seconded and passed (vote tally not specified in transcript).
- Signage (Log2025PBO15712 / Log2025TBO1): Board moved to grant a waiver from section 84-18(h)(1) (internal illumination prohibition) and to exceed the maximum cumulative sign area; the board approved the sign as modified. The motion was seconded (member identified in the record as Molly) and the vote carried unanimously.

Applicant commitments and next steps
The applicant said construction and patio opening will likely wait until spring. The applicant also agreed to work with the landscape architect and staff to finalize planting lists and to coordinate the historic marker installation. Staff said the building permit will not be issued for open patio use until the site-plan conditions are met and staff and code enforcement confirm compliance.

Ending
The board's combined approvals allow the Squeeze Juicery patio project and signage to proceed subject to the conditions listed above. Staff will prepare the final resolution language and work with the applicant to finalize plans and permit issuance.