Planning commission approves digital message board for St. Stephen's at 905 E. Perkins Ave.

The Sandusky Planning Commission on April 23, 2025 approved a conditional‑use permit allowing St. Stephen's United Church of Christ to replace the manual sign at 905 East Perkins Ave with a digital message board, subject to staff conditions intended to limit brightness and animation.

Planning staff member Andy Simons told the commission the application, filed by Brady Saenz Company on behalf of St. Stephen's United Church of Christ, proposes a digital message face for an existing sign about 10 feet from the East Perkins Avenue right of way. Simons said the proposed sign does not exceed the 40‑square‑foot limit that applies in the public‑facility zoning district and that staff recommended approval with conditions including required building and engineering permits, brightness limits so the sign “shall not impose hazard to pedestrian or vehicular traffic, nor a nuisance to surrounding property owners,” adherence to ODOT timing standards or a 10‑second minimum display time per image (whichever is longer), and prohibition on animations, video or flashing.

Ryan Bridal of Brady Sign, the contractor on the project, testified at the public hearing that the proposed unit includes an automatic dimming feature: “At noon, with peak daylight, it will be at max brightness. And then at 10:00, when it's pitch dark outside, it'll dim down to about 5 percent of that same brightness.” Bridal added the software allows manual override to reduce brightness further if necessary.

Commission discussion included a clarification about the existing sign technology. David Miller asked whether staff's description of the current sign as “analog” referred to a manual change‑copy sign. Bridal and staff agreed that in this context “analog” meant a manually changed copy board, not digital display.

Planning Commission member Mike Zulof moved to approve the conditional use permit subject to staff recommendations; Connor Whelan seconded. Roll call votes recorded by clerk Miss Rambo were: Mike Zulof, yes; Connor Whelan, yes; Steve Pajali, yes; David Miller, yes; Jim Jackson, yes; Jade Casteel, yes. The motion passed.

The approval requires the applicant to secure all applicable permits before construction and to operate the sign within the brightness and display‑timing conditions established by staff. The sign vendor said it has an auto‑dimming feature and can be adjusted by software if neighbors report brightness concerns.