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Council tables Dutch Bros/Les Schwab 80-foot sign appeal pending visibility test
Summary
After staff found the proposal did not meet municipal code criteria, the council tabled an appeal to allow a flag/balloon visibility test at several heights and asked the applicant to return with results and scaled visuals.
Mayor Clint Sherff opened a public hearing on an appeal seeking permission to build an 80-foot, single-pole sign with two four-sided cabinets (400 square feet total) at 251 Northeast Agnes Avenue, a site that will host a Dutch Bros and a Les Schwab tire center.
Bradley Clark of Community Development summarized staff’s review: the application seeks a new freestanding pole far taller and larger than the existing 28-foot, 55-square-foot sign on the site. Clark said municipal code section 9.2116(a)(1) limits sign height to 25 feet and staff did not find that the three required criteria for an appeal were met; he described the available options as approving as submitted, approving with conditions, or denying.
Nick Johnson, representing ES&A Sign & Awning, and business representatives argued that the site’s topography, trees and the BMX facility block visibility from the I‑5 interchange and that a taller sign would safely direct highway traffic to local businesses. Les Schwab manager Spencer Holland and Dutch Bros construction manager Sarah Resnick said a prominent sign would help travelers find services and support local economic activity.
Johnson offered a reduced option — about 75 feet in height and 200 square feet of sign area — and proposed a flag (balloon) test so council and staff could visually assess how different heights would read from multiple approaches. Public commenters mostly supported the businesses and noted the practical difficulty of finding the site from the interstate.
Council discussion focused on fairness and precedent. Some councilors said the application did not meet the strict findings required by code and favored pursuing a legislative approach (a freeway-overlay zone) to set uniform standards for future applicants. Others said common sense and the site’s physical constraints supported some form of relief or a temporary variance.
Rather than decide on the appeal that night, the council rescinded the initial approval attempt and voted to table the matter. The motion requires the applicant to conduct a flag/balloon visibility test at multiple heights, submit the findings and revised visualizations, and return at a date certain for the resumed public hearing.
The hearing was paused and will be reconvened after the applicant provides the requested test results and materials.
