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VDOT STARS Plan easements cited as hardship in sign variance request
Summary
Staff told the Board that VDOT’s STARS Plan and resulting VDOT/City easements require removal of the existing freestanding sign and prevent replacing it on site, creating the hardship that underpins the applicant’s variance request; staff noted VDOT/City could reconsider after construction (estimated June 2026).
Staff explained that the variance request stems from required VDOT STARS Plan improvements that will remove the existing freestanding sign and create easements that limit placement of a replacement. According to the staff report, the existing sign was permitted in 2019, and the STARS Plan requires its removal; new easements limit where a freestanding sign could be sited on the property.
The staff report states: "STARS Plan improvement required new VDOT/City easements that limit placement of new freestanding sign." Staff also noted that placement within the VDOT/City easement would be at the owner’s risk and that "no structures [are] recommended until after construction is complete (June 2026 estimate)." The report says VDOT and the City could reconsider sign placement after construction is finished.
Because the hardship arises from the STARS Plan and easements imposed by VDOT/City actions rather than actions by the applicant, staff found the request satisfies the variance test that the hardship was not self‑created. The transcript supplied does not include public comment or a final Board decision on the matter.
