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Developers argue for larger, higher and closer signage for West Side revitalization project
Summary
Developers for the West Side revitalization asked the Chattanooga City form-based code committee to allow ground monuments and skyline signs, citing single-entry access, steep grades and the need to make new mixed-income housing visible from the interstate and downtown.
At a Chattanooga City form-based code committee meeting, Dina Harvison, principal at Lightfoot Design Group and representative for Columbia Residential, asked the committee to grant several sign modifications for the West Side revitalization site.
Harvison described three specific requests: installing a four-sided pedestal monument at the community’s single entrance; reducing the pedestal setback from the code’s 18 feet to "about 5 to 6 feet from the right of way" so the sign will remain visible; and increasing monument height from the code’s 6 feet to about 10 feet to better match surrounding building scale. She added the applicant also seeks allowance for skyline-style letters on the buildings that face Interstate 24.
The owner-representative Jim Grawley, introduced by the applicant, said the project will replace an existing public-housing site and bring a mix of workforce and market-rate units. "We're replacing every 1 of those 1 for 1," he said, arguing that visibility from heavy traffic is important to show the site is welcoming and not solely subsidized housing.
Committee members pressed for more detail about community outreach and about whether the skyline letters would conflict with the form-based code’s limits on signs for buildings of four stories or fewer. Staff and members asked for clarity on how the code reads — whether the provision applies to "over 4" or "4 or fewer" stories — and whether the proposed skyline signs would resemble hotel or commercial signage.
Harvison and Grawley said community input on branding informed their designs and that site constraints (a single downward-sloping entry, equipment and fire-pump locations) make the setback and height adjustments necessary for legibility.
The transcript records a motion was introduced after discussion and seconded; the meeting record in the transcript does not include a clear, recorded final vote on the Columbia Residential sign modifications. The committee indicated further conversation and review would follow.
The committee's next procedural step was to move on to subsequent agenda items; applicants were told how to submit further materials if the committee requests refinement or conditions.
