Hinsdale commissioners approve three sign permits with lighting and wording conditions

The Hinsdale Plan Commission approved sign-permit applications for three downtown businesses, adding conditions on letter size, wording and lighting color temperature.

Commissioners voted to approve sign permit ADash21Dash2025 for a med spa rebranding at 22 West First Street, ADash26Dash2025 for Pronto Italian Sandwiches at 114 South Washington Street, and case A-36-2025 for Endeavor Health’s immediate care center signage after discussion of readability, placement and nighttime brightness.

Members said the applications were largely compliant with existing rules but pressed applicants for modest changes aimed at reducing visual clutter and improving wayfinding. For the med spa, the applicant said the work is a name-only rebrand and that the new wall signs were “like for like” replacements; commissioners confirmed the letters would be readable from the sidewalk and voted to approve the permit as submitted. Peter Berti, representing Pronto, told commissioners the proposed sign is a replacement of an existing sign and that the building’s other tenant had agreed to the square-footage split. Commissioners asked the applicant to lower the LED color temperature; staff said the sign company would be asked to supply a warmer LED (about 3,500–4,200 Kelvin) and the permit was approved with a stipulation on the lighting tone.

For Endeavor Health’s immediate care, Alrights Sign manager Aaron Livingston explained the request for three signs was to ensure visibility to drivers approaching from multiple directions and to identify multiple building entrances. Commissioners expressed concern about downtown lighting levels and visual clutter but agreed the safety goal of directing patients to an immediate care entrance justified additional signage if toned and worded for wayfinding. The commission approved the application with three conditions: change the north window text from “Endeavor Health” to “Immediate Care,” set the south branding sign to 3,500 Kelvin illumination, and allow the east-facing “Immediate Care” sign to be either 4,100 K or 6,500 K depending on the applicant’s operational need for visibility. Commissioners left the final choice of the east sign’s color temperature to the applicant and required the applicant to confirm the lighting specification with staff.

Commissioners discussed and confirmed operational details during the reviews: the med spa’s side sign letter height (letters reported as about 10 inches on one face and 8 inches on the door), Pronto’s sign footprint relative to building allocation (applicant said it uses approximately 65% of the storefront allocation), and the immediate care center’s placement and lighting schedule (applicants said exterior illumination would be on a timer and the proposed window sign faces into a parking lot). All three motions passed by roll call vote.

The commission’s approvals include conditions intended to balance businesses’ visibility needs and neighborhood concerns about brightness and sign scale. Applicants were directed to work with staff to confirm the final lighting specs and to ensure signage placement matches the approved plans.