Hearing officer hears request for setback variance to allow 18-foot monument sign at Delfin shopping center

A Howard County hearing officer on May 21 heard testimony on BA25-004S, an application by Creative Edge Signs and the property owner to allow an 18-foot-4-inch monument sign at 8654 Baltimore National Pike (the Delfin shopping center).

The applicant requested a setback variance so the proposed sign could be located 21 feet from the Baltimore National right of way rather than the 36.66 feet required under the county sign rules, a difference of 15.66 feet cited in the staff report.

Applicant representative Michael Amaranto, representing Creative Edge Signs, said the center currently has two tenants — Abu Shawarma and High Point Laundromat — and that the existing ordinance limits monument height for centers with fewer than six tenants to roughly 4 feet, which he and the owner said is inadequate for visibility. “We’re asking for a height variance to be given … because the present berm and just overall visibility is limited,” Amaranto said.

Property owner Hola Oyofusi described site constraints including a large berm between the road and the site and an on-site bioretention/retention area required for stormwater. “We excavated about 25 feet down … the bioretention pond is there,” Oyofusi said, adding that available space for a sign is very narrow and that a 4‑ or 5‑foot sign would not be visible from the road. Oyofusi said the center was approved as a six‑unit building but currently has two tenants because one tenant combined multiple bays.

Bridal Glass, the project architect with Brasher Design, concurred with the applicants’ visibility claims and said the site was “extremely complex” to develop, noting excavation and grade work that produced a berm between the road and the building. Glass also said a small marquee‑type sign placed where the site plan shows it would be “all but invisible.”

County staff, as read into the record by the hearing officer, reported that the proposed sign location provides a 21‑foot setback from the Baltimore National right of way while the sign code requires 36.66 feet (two feet of setback required per foot of sign height from grade). The staff report also noted potential issues with sign illumination and appended a list of items that must be addressed during the building permit process. The hearing officer said any approval would be conditioned on compliance with the sign illumination requirements and on satisfying the items identified by the Division of Land Development and Permits during permitting.

The hearing officer asked applicants to explain how the property meets the variance findings the county must make, including unique physical conditions, obstructions affecting visibility, and whether approval would impair the intent of the code. Applicants described the berm (described in testimony as about 10–12 feet at its maximum and averaging about 10 feet), the lowered parking lot grade, existing trees and neighboring dealership signage and buildings as factors limiting visibility from both travel directions on Route 40/Baltimore National Pike.

No final decision was made at the hearing. The hearing officer closed the record and said a decision and order will be issued later.

Votes at a glance: none — this was a hearing on an administrative variance application; the record was closed and no vote or final action was taken at the session.