Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Signage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council narrows and approves new signage rules for hospitals and large grocery stores
Summary
After discussion and an amendment, Lancaster County Council approved changes to the Unified Development Ordinance allowing larger wall signage for new regional hospitals and large grocery stores, setting specific size caps tied to building size and use definitions.
Lancaster County Council on Tuesday approved changes to the Unified Development Ordinance (case TA‑2025‑1306; Ordinance No. 2025‑1985) that add definitions for "regional hospital facility" and "large scale grocery store" and allow increased wall signage for those uses.
Planning staff described the draft ordinance as a definitions‑based approach similar to edits the county adopted in 2023 for other large retailers. The proposed definitions tie the special signage allowance to buildings of at least 50,000 square feet. "For the site where it's located, the site is zoned regional business or RB," planning staff said when explaining the hospital proposal, and staff showed renderings comparing current allowed signage to the proposed larger signs.
The council considered separate sign‑area caps for the two new use types. The original applicant requests would have allowed a large‑scale grocery store up to 250 square feet on each of two walls (500 square feet total per building) and a regional hospital facility up to 400 square feet on each of two walls (800 square feet total per project). The planning commission had recommended approval for the hospital language but recommended cutting the grocery maximum to a 200‑square‑foot total. Council debated the rationale for differentiating between large retailers and large grocers and discussed visibility issues for buildings set back from Charlotte Highway.
Council amended the grocery provision on the floor to adopt the applicant's requested approach: a maximum of 250 square feet on each of up to two walls (500 square feet total per building). The hospital provision was approved at a maximum of 400 square feet on each of up to two walls (800 square feet total per project). The motion to approve, as amended, passed unanimously (7–0).
Staff provided background examples of nearby store signage and noted that only a small number of county sites would qualify under the proposed size threshold. The county plans to apply the enlarged signage only where buildings meet the new definitions (buildings of at least 50,000 square feet and, for hospitals, at least 25 inpatient rooms), not by generic zoning alone.
The ordinance will return for the county's usual second‑reading/ordinance adoption process; council's action was taken at first reading with an amendment that both constrained and clarified where larger signs will be allowed.
