The Board of Zoning Adjustment on Jan. 15 approved a variance that lets the TownePlace Suites by Marriott at 1000 North Atlantic Avenue install a 328-square-foot channel-letter wall sign, increasing the allowable maximum from 120 square feet.

The variance (Case A, BOA 2025-029) was read into the record by the clerk as a request under the City of Daytona Beach Land Development Code, Article 6, Section 6.10.K.4 (signage). Attorney Smith of Caldwell Law Firm, appearing for the applicant, said the hotel’s wide façade and its placement on the lot require larger identification than the code’s standard allowance. “Again, we are requesting a variance to increase the, maximum wall signage from a 128 or 120 square feet, sorry, to 328 square feet,” Smith said.

Smith told the board the property was a historic hotel that fell into disrepair before the current owner purchased and redeveloped it under the Marriott flag. He said the building sits substantially farther from the roadway than typical lots in the T1 zoning district — about 95 feet beyond the code’s 25-foot minimum front setback — and that corporate branding standards and visibility needs justified the larger sign. Smith also said the measured area includes blank space and that the actual lettering is smaller than the total square footage indicates.

Board members asked whether the elevation drawings showed signage on both sides of the building and whether the square-foot calculation used a rectangular measurement that included blank space. Smith confirmed the posted elevations came from the original site plans and that the square-foot figure used a rectangle around the sign, which increases the measured area compared with just measuring the letter forms.

The chair emphasized that approval should be linked to the sign plan submitted with the application and warned that any additional wall signage would require returning to the board for approval. The chair suggested the applicant consider adding smaller signs on the south or north elevations to improve wayfinding rather than increasing the main front sign.

A motion to approve the variance was made by the chair (name not provided) and seconded by a board member. The clerk conducted a roll-call vote; each member recorded a “Yes,” and the clerk later confirmed the board approved the item 6 to 0.

The board did not attach additional conditions beyond the requirement that future wall signs must return to the board for approval; the clerk recorded the approval as final for the hearing record.