Hallmark Student Development Company’s request for larger wall-mounted signs at Gateway Lofts at Renaissance Pointe was tabled by the Board of Zoning Appeals on July 2 after staff and commissioners said they could not verify the applicant’s square-foot calculations.

The variance application sought permission for two wall signs of 45 square feet each on the north and west faces of the building at 3305 Atrium Boulevard, larger than the 30-square-foot maximum for individual signs in the code section cited by staff. "So this is a request by applicant Hallmark Student Development Company for an area and dimensional variance for the property at 3305 Atrium Boulevard to allow for 2 wall signs... totaling 45 square feet each, where the Middletown development code only allows for a maximum sign area of 30 square feet," Planning staff member Miss Savage said during the staff report.

The variance was introduced as case number 16-25. Savage told the board that Middletown Development Code sections 12.20.06 and related signage rules apply, and that the code measures sign area by the rectangular perimeter surrounding the letters even where channel lettering contains open (negative) space.

Ryan Pearson, a land planner with Edge Group representing Hallmark Campus Communities, said the applicant's initial measurements had been done by "just a box around each 1 of the words," which he said excluded whitespace between words in some counts. Pearson said that, depending on the counting method, the signs might require one or two variances and that the applicant might need to amend the application to reflect the city's measurement standard.

Board members and staff discussed prior administrative waivers applied elsewhere in the development and noted one previously granted administrative 10% waiver on signage that may have been approved on applicant-supplied dimensions without city verification. Staff said one of the signs, if measured by the city's rectangular method, could be as large as 69.1 square feet; the application submitted lists 45 square feet per sign and a 52% increase over the 30-square-foot allowance.

Because the board could not confirm the accurate dimensions from the documentation provided and to avoid inconsistent approvals, members voted to continue the public hearing and table the application for further review. The motion to table was adopted in a roll-call vote with five members voting yes (David Cash, Stefan Wanamaker, Thomas Evans, Jerry Heidenreich, AJ Mentel). The board asked the applicant to amend the application to show sign face measurements using the city’s measurement rules and to verify the dimensions that led to prior administrative waivers.

The board emphasized that the amended filing should clarify which signs are included and include measurements drawn to the city's rectangular-perimeter standard. The hearing was continued to the board's August meeting; no substantive approval or denial was made.

Why it matters: The decision delays a commercial-identification feature that Hallmark says is integral to the project's architectural treatment. The outcome also highlights how differences in applicant versus city measurement methods can affect zoning compliance and administrative waivers.

What’s next: The applicant was instructed to amend the application and submit corrected dimensions and documentation consistent with Middletown development code measurement rules before returning to the board in August.