Commission recommends comprehensive sign plan for 8500 Manchester Road; one commissioner objects

Brentwood’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval on Aug. 14 of a comprehensive sign plan for the shopping center at 8500 Manchester Road, but the decision attracted a recorded dissent.

Applicant Michael Schutte presented revisions intended to reduce sign clutter and better display tenant names. He described limiting multi-space tenants to a single primary sign and smaller decorative logos, and he told the commission the monument sign would be 69 inches tall (an increase of 9 inches over the 5-foot baseline) to accommodate 12 tenant names.

Staff described the site-plan subcommittee’s input: tenants may use the sign area above their entrance, additional decorative elements must be limited to non-text logos with matte-black negative space in the revised drawings, and an outlot tenant (Blue City Athletics) would meet normal sign regulations. Staff also noted landscaping will be preserved and cited section 401730 in the staff report related to right-of-way improvements.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about footing height, setback compliance and visibility. One commissioner raised a concern that the proposed sign length could create a nonconformance with setback requirements; another commissioner said the 12-foot length is compliant for this building. After discussion, Commissioner (speaker 8) moved to recommend approval “as presented in the staff report, including all actions 1 through 7.” The motion was seconded and passed on a roll call: Mr. Nolan, Ms. Scharing, Ms. Bilderback, Mr. Forman and Mr. Moore voted yes; Mr. Hunt voted no.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Aldermen for final action. The staff report’s conclusion and action items were incorporated into the motion; commissioners emphasized any changes should be captured explicitly in motion language.