Planning board recommends Farmington master sign program to Town Council

The Town of Harrisburg Planning and Zoning Board voted March 19 to recommend approval to the Town Council of a conditional-zoning amendment that would add a master sign program for the Farmington planned unit development.

Shelley, a town planning staffer, told the board the proposal would not change uses or density in the roughly 185-acre, mixed-use Farmington development but would standardize sign design and clarify how overlapping underlying zoning applies across the portions that lie in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties. "This is a request to amend the Farmington plan unit development," Shelley said, adding that the program applies only to the commercial district and sets design, material and illumination standards.

Under the proposal, the applicant would accept limits intended to reduce sign clutter: staff reported the area north of a defined control line could have up to 13 signs totaling about 6,608 square feet by-right, while the requested flexible package north of that line would include 11 signs (including five wayfinding/directory signs) totaling roughly 488 square feet. The applicant also proposed a combined main entry sign (dimensioned at 96 square feet, excluding base) and a 100-square-foot subdivision entry sign; several other pedestrian- and driver-facing signs would use halo lighting and other higher-quality materials.

Shelley said the program would prohibit electronic message boards throughout the development, with one reserved exception for the Harris Teeter fuel station to display pricing. Several proposed signs would be sited near rights-of-way or roundabouts and therefore would require separate encroachment permits and coordination with the town engineering department and state permitting where applicable.

Developer representative George Macon, who identified himself as being with MPV, told the board the intent was to "enhance a cohesive sense of place" and avoid a proliferation of small ground-mounted signs as the project builds out. Macon added that the program would be recorded in the project's master declaration so future tenants must comply with the approved sign package.

Board members questioned how language in Exhibit A — the sign package that would be attached to the conditional-zoning ordinance — interacts with landlord/tenant lease language and town permitting. A member asked whether the final ordinance text and attachments would accompany the council packet; Shelley said the approved sign program would be attached as Exhibit A and that the town would prepare ordinance language for council review. The board requested legal review to resolve any landlord/tenant wording that might create confusion over enforcement.

Committee member [board member] moved to recommend the sign program to the Town Council with a modification requiring legal review; Shelley seconded. The motion passed by voice vote. The full sign package, as recommended and amended by the board, will be forwarded to the Town Council for ordinance consideration and final approval.

Next steps: the Town Council will consider the conditional-zoning ordinance with Exhibit A (the sign program) and the conditions of approval set by the planning board. If approved by council, signs within public rights-of-way will still require encroachment permits and any necessary state or county approvals.