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Panda Express project manager says subsurface constraints led to hybrid sign design
Summary
Panda Express's project manager told the Herndon BZA that an easement and hard subsurface conditions forced a spread‑base and a combined menu board/OCU design, limiting where cabling could be run and influencing the installed sign configuration.
Ross MacArthur, project manager for Panda Express, told the board the company submitted plans that included the menu boards but that construction revealed unanticipated subsurface constraints that forced a different footing and a hybrid OCU design. "We had a spread base because we couldn't access underneath the drive thru... we couldn't run low voltage lines for the speaker on the OCU," MacArthur said, describing why the OCU was integrated with the menu board rather than installed as a separate unit.
MacArthur told the BZA he submitted standard drawings during permitting and said the specific drawing showing fractional dimensions was not one he had prepared: "I've never seen the drawing on the left... that's not what I submitted for permitting." He also said the company considers the design part of a national standard but acknowledged the installed base sign is larger than what the town approved.
The applicant's testimony emphasized operational concerns: MacArthur said operating a Panda Express without a functional drive‑thru "would be very difficult," citing industry trends for high drive‑thru usage at quick‑service restaurants. The board weighed that operational hardship against the statutory variance criteria and the town's sign‑size standards before voting to deny the variance.
