Placerville Planning Commission approves Grocery Outlet exterior changes and sign package at County Fair Plaza

The Placerville Planning Commission on April 1 voted 5-0 to conditionally approve site plan review SPR 76-19-R, allowing exterior modifications and a revised master sign plan for a Grocery Outlet replacing the former Rite Aid at 31 Fairlane in the County Fair Shopping Center.

The approval covers a new parapet above the store entrance, changes to building color and roofline, a relocated and redesigned pylon sign, a new trash enclosure and cart corrals, and a revised sign package that staff and applicants said reflects the tenant's corporate branding. The commission attached conditions including submission of trash-enclosure elevations for review by Development Services and Eldorado Disposal District before a building permit is issued.

Staff presented the application and staff report, describing the project as alterations to a single-story multi-tenant building that would create a distinct new storefront for Grocery Outlet. Kristen Hunter, Development Services staff, told the commission the project "is consistent with the general plan community design element" and noted that the proposed sign placement is within a 60% frontage-length limit in the center's existing 1978 sign plan. Hunter also said revised submittals received the week of the hearing did not change staff's recommendation.

Commission discussion focused on the scale and visibility of the proposed parapet and signage. Staff and commissioners quoted square-foot figures during the hearing: the application includes a main wall sign measured at roughly 27 by 8 feet (about 216 square feet), four smaller wall signs totaling 37.6 square feet, and a new cabinet on the pylon sign at about 110 square feet, for a package totaling about 253 square feet on the parapet face. By comparison, commissioners noted the 1978 sign plan originally allocated roughly 150 square feet for the Rite Aid/Value Giant tenant and 180 square feet for the larger anchor (Big Lots/Safeway), with a reported total wall-sign amount for the center of approximately 650 square feet under that earlier package. Hunter said that by strict municipal-code frontage formulas the grocery store's business frontage would entitle it to about 154 square feet by right, but master sign plans and the commission's discretion can allow greater area.

Applicants and their representatives addressed aesthetics, visibility and operational questions. Daryl Lam, construction project manager for Grocery Outlet, said the change "brings an improvement to the center itself" and described his role as bringing the design to construction. Doug Head, the project sign consultant, told commissioners, "This is their standard typical signage for long distance reading," and argued the larger parapet and sign are part of Grocery Outlet's prototype and help travelers identify the store from a distance. Bill Coyle, Grocery Outlet real estate, said the company leases the Rite Aid space and plans a demising wall to allow for a future additional tenant in part of the space.

Commissioners and members of the public raised other topics during the hearing: the location and enclosure of trash bins, drainage and a transformer area adjacent to the loading zone, truck turning access (the applicant reported a WB-67 truck study showed access), and how the proposed color and illuminated signage would appear at night. Hunter noted one condition in the staff report calls for dimming of sign illumination between midnight and 6 a.m. rather than full shutoff, a practice drawn from a prior approval at Apple Farm Place.

After extended deliberation, Commissioner Catherine Sylvester moved to adopt staff findings and conditionally approve SPR 76-19-R "based on the information, project and findings included in the staff report and subject to the recommended conditions of approval included in attachment 1" with a clarified condition describing the approved signs: a 110-square-foot cabinet on the existing pylon sign, a 27-by-8-foot (approximately 216-square-foot) wall sign, and four smaller individual wall signs totaling 37.6 square feet. The motion included a friendly amendment accepted by the maker that condition 6 require trash-enclosure plans and elevations submitted to Development Services "after approval by Eldorado Disposal District" prior to issuance of a building permit. Commissioner Smith seconded; the roll-call vote was Chair Keeney, Vice Chair Lepper, Commissioners Sylvester, Smith and Stratton voting aye. The motion passed 5-0.

The commission discussed but did not require further design changes; several commissioners requested that staff and the applicant keep open communication and that the applicant consider alternate backgrounds or reduced parapet sign scale if feasible, but the commission concluded the proposal could proceed with the clarified conditions. The record shows the commission weighed the proposal against the center's 1978 master sign plan, the city's sign regulations and the project's context in the Highway Commercial area before reaching its decision.

The approval is subject to a 10-day appeal period to the City Council and to final plan-submittal and building-permit review. Conditioned items described in the staff report's attachment 1 (trash-enclosure details, final elevations, lighting controls and related construction documentation) must be satisfied before construction permits issue.