Pleasant Hill ARC backs church sign change but orders clearer landscaping and removal of service hours line

The Pleasant Hill Architectural Review Commission on Feb. 5 recommended that city staff forward a sign‑permit recommendation for the First Church of Christ Scientists to the Planning Commission, subject to conditions intended to improve legibility and site appearance.

Andrew, a city staff planner, told the commission the church wants to add an 18‑inch Christian Science Church panel beneath an existing 22‑inch Empire Monastery Preschool panel on the monument sign at Boyd Road and Cars Avenue. The proposal would shift the preschool panel up about 7 inches and add a 12‑square‑foot panel, bringing total freestanding sign area on the site to about 27.1 square feet — above the allowable area for the residential zoning and therefore requiring a use permit review by the Planning Commission.

Staff asked the commission to discuss several items: whether to allow secondary copy (the proposed line that reads service times), whether to keep a light text/dark background for visibility, and the condition of landscaping at the base of the sign, where large succulents partially obscure the panel from the street.

Nancy Batty, who identified herself as the church’s board chair, told the commission the church would remove an on‑site small sign that is tilted and agreed that the reference to a reading room should be removed because the reading room is no longer active. Batty also said the church and the preschool are separate entities and that the property owner supports the church’s request to add the panel.

Commissioners raised legibility and maintenance concerns. One commissioner summarized the prevailing view: either remove the proposed secondary hours line entirely or make it much smaller so the primary tenant names remain dominant. Commissioners also asked that the faded Empire Monastery Preschool panel be refreshed if a new panel is installed and recommended trimming or replacing the large succulents that now block sightlines.

By motion, the commission directed staff to recommend deleting the secondary information line, to require repainting/refreshing of the preschool panel, to trim succulents or replace them with low‑lying drought‑tolerant ground cover so the monument sign is visible from the street, and to leave the existing light‑background/dark‑text illumination as proposed. The motion passed unanimously.

The ARC’s advisory recommendation, including staff findings and conditions, will go to the Planning Commission for the required use‑permit review and any necessary zoning determinations.

Next steps: the Planning Commission will review the sign permit and the associated use permit; staff indicated the use permit will be scheduled for a future Planning Commission hearing.