Littleton Planning Commission backs code changes to allow optional "master sign plans" for large sites, with amendments

Littleton Planning Commission on Monday voted to recommend that City Council approve a text amendment to Title 10 of the city's Unified Land Use Code establishing an optional master sign plan process for large, multi‑parcel sites and shopping‑center/campus environments. The commission approved the recommendation with two amendments: replacing the word "subdivision" with "subject property" throughout the proposed language and updating table references to use the corridor mixed zone name.

The change matters because it creates a uniform, optional pathway for consolidated sign plans on sites meeting minimum size and district criteria while carving out explicit exceptions for Littleton's historic downtown and other protected areas. Staff said the proposal is intended to provide limited flexibility for larger sites along certain corridors while maintaining design controls and existing illumination rules elsewhere.

Under the proposal and the amendments recommended by the commission, a master sign plan would be an administratively approved option for sites meeting minimum thresholds (staff discussed a 10‑acre minimum) in the code's larger commercial and industrial districts. Key provisions discussed at the hearing included: - Small-site wall signage: a baseline maximum for small sites would increase in certain circumstances (staff described changing a 32 square‑foot allowance to 40 square feet where building frontages face specified commercial corridors). - Large…