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Kent County Board of Adjustment approves larger rooftop sign for Blue Collar Cycles
Summary
The Kent County Board of Adjustment voted 5–1 to grant a variance allowing a 168-square-foot sign on the parapet wall of Blue Collar Cycles' building at Old Beach Road, exceeding the countywall-sign 10% limit (168 sq. ft., 14.5% vs. permitted 116.29 sq. ft.). The board cited the site's highway visibility and asserted hardship; staff had opposed.
The Kent County Board of Adjustment on Oct. 16 approved a variance that allows Blue Collar Cycles to install a 168-square-foot wall sign on a newly built parapet at the Webb's Market building in Frederica, voting 5–1 to relax the county wall-sign limit.
Board members said the sign, which the applicant said is necessary to attract traffic from Route 1, creates only a modest exceedance of the sign-size rule and will not unduly harm neighboring properties.
The sign-size limit in question caps wall-mounted signs at 10% of the building front the business occupies. Staff told the board the building front measures 1,162.29 square feet, making the permitted sign roughly 116.29 square feet; the applicant proposed a 168-square-foot sign, or about 14.5% of the front. The planning staff recommended denial and cautioned against setting a precedent for sign variances.
James (Jim) Burke, the applicant and owner of Blue Collar Cycles, told the board the sign was originally built for a roof installation and that the county later required removal of roof-mounted signs. "Itwas very important for us to have this sign on the roof because we need people from all the way on the other side of Route 1 ... to see what's going on over there," Burke said, describing the site's reduced visibility following the Route 1 bypass.
Burke said he had already spent funds to redesign the buildingincluding an architect's stamp for the parapetand that remaking the sign would be costly. At the hearing he estimated a redesign at roughly $3,500.
Several supporters, including nearby business owners and the Bowers Fire Company chief, described the applicant as a local business owner who has renovated the former Webb's Market property and said that modest additional sign area would help draw customers safely from the highway. Opposing testimony focused on preserving the county's sign standards and concerns about visual clutter along Route 1.
During deliberations commissioners discussed technical points about measuring sign area. Staff clarified that the ordinance bases the calculation on the wall (including the parapet) and not the roof. Commissioners also weighed aesthetics and the risk of precedent against the applicant's operational need to be visible to high-speed highway traffic.
Commissioner Brian Jones said he could support the variance, citing photographic evidence and the length of the roof compared with the building front: "I'll vote in support of the variance for application A-25-28. Based on this testimony tonight and based on the photographs and the length of the roof compared to the frontage of the actual building, I could see that ... given that lengths of that roof, I do vote in favor of the applicant." Commissioner Denny dissented, saying she generally adheres tightly to the sign code and would have preferred a compromise reduction.
The board granted the variance for application A-25-28 (Burke & Burke), allowing the 168-square-foot parapet-mounted sign (outcome: approved). The board did not specify additional conditions beyond compliance with other permits and building requirements.
The applicant may proceed with permitting consistent with the boardapproved variance; written notice of the decision will be mailed per county procedure.
