QuickStar requests variance for taller, larger signage at Brandon 90 Plaza as city reviews interstate sign overlay

Developer representatives and property owners requested a variance to allow taller and larger freestanding signs at the Brandon 90 Plaza (QuickStar) site during a Board of Adjustment segment of the meeting, and commissioners deferred a final determination while staff outlined pending zoning code amendments that could affect the request.

Marwin Hofer, owner of Brandon 90 Plaza, told the board the convenience store is “the linchpin of the development” and said QuickStar recently acquired three acres at the site. Matthew Lekki, identified as the project manager for the applicant, and Zach Poggle of QuickStar’s real estate team attended to present the variance packet and answer technical questions about sign area and numeration.

The request seeks freestanding signage taller than the standard district maximum and larger than the city’s typical sign-area cap. Applicants described one proposed sign that the packet and photos represent as 90 feet in height and approximately 567 square feet of sign face; staff clarified portions of the application, including the numerals displayed for pricing (applicants confirmed digits are 8 feet 4 inches high for price display). The applicants asked the board to consider the variance while staff and planning are simultaneously working on an interstate-overlay zoning amendment that would allow taller signs — the draft overlay under review would permit up to 90 feet in the interstate-adjacent district and discusses allowing multiple freestanding signs where frontage warrants it.

City planning staff told the board the overlay public hearing is scheduled for the commission’s next meeting and outlined the timeline: after planning and zoning’s public hearing and city council readings, an effective date could occur in late August if the amendments pass. Staff warned commissioners that if they grant a variance now, it could functionally set a broader standard absent the overlay; conversely, if the overlay passes, the variance might become unnecessary.

Commissioners probed hardship criteria and precedent. One commissioner noted that variances, when granted, may effectively set a citywide precedent if the condition is not narrowly specific; staff replied the board could impose conditions or table the request. The board also reviewed a recent, similar tall-sign variance granted to Les Schwab (about 50 feet) for context; Holiday Inn Express signage was discussed as an example of an existing, nonconforming large sign.

Applicants emphasized schedule pressures: QuickStar representatives said construction timetables for a new store are rapid and that delays of several months present financial and logistical difficulties for the operator. Staff explained procedural avenues: the board can approve (with or without conditions), deny, or table the request; a denial could be appealed to City Council within five working days.

No final action on the variance is recorded in the provided transcript. Commissioners and staff indicated they may prefer to let the overlay amendment process play out before granting a variance that could set an ad hoc standard, but also acknowledged the applicant's timing concerns and the code's six-month rule that limits reapplication of substantially similar requests following denials.

Speakers at the hearing included Marwin Hofer (property owner), Matthew Lekki (project manager for the applicant), Zach Poggle (QuickStar real estate), Patrick (city planning staff), and several commissioners. Staff and the applicant agreed to clarify sign-area numbers and price-digit heights in the application packet for the board to consider at a later date.