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Belgrade city members approve variance allowing larger Foundry monument sign with PUD amendment condition
Summary
Members at a Belgrade city meeting approved a variance to allow a 158-square-foot copy area on a multi-tenant monument sign for the Foundry (formerly Jackrabbit Crossings). Approval includes a condition that the PUD signage provisions be amended and reviewed by the planning process.
At a Belgrade city meeting, members voted to approve a variance allowing a larger multi-tenant monument sign for the Foundry development (formerly Jackrabbit Crossings), with a condition that the development amend its PUD signage provisions to formally allow the larger copy area.
Brad Stein, senior planner for the city of Belgrade, told members staff supports the variance because the PUD for the development already contemplated large monument signs but the city’s current sign code limits copy area to 40 square feet. “So this request is for a 158 square feet on a sign,” Stein said, adding that the proposed sign’s overall structure and height (about 24–25 feet tall and 13–14 feet wide) conform to size limits; it is the amount of copy that exceeds the code.
The applicant’s representative described a design strategy to consolidate multiple tenant panels onto a single, architecturally consistent monument sign rather than allowing numerous tall individual pylon signs. The presenter said the monument sign under discussion was roughly $250,000 and about 25 feet tall, and that the grocery tenant hoped to begin sales by June. “We’re basically taking this shopping center district, combining them to one monument sign,” the applicant said, characterizing the approach as both a branding and aesthetic choice.
Board members asked practical questions about safety, readability and how logos count toward copy area; Stein said logos and tenant panels are included in the copy calculation and that safety and aesthetics are among the factors the code addresses. A nearby property owner, Gordon Hardaway, said he did not oppose the proposal but asked whether approval would set a precedent for nearby parcels; staff replied that variances are decided on a case-by-case basis and the code remains in force.
After deliberation, a member moved to approve the variance on the condition that, when the developer amends the PUD master sign plan, the PUD signage code be revised to allow the particular sign and copy area. The motion was seconded and the board voted in favor; no opposition was recorded on the audio record.
The approval allows the applicant to move forward with the larger monument sign now, and staff said the PUD amendment and any broader sign-code changes would proceed through the planning review process followed by city council action as required.
