Commissioners question size, spacing and lighting for proposed Poppy Ranch freeway sign

During the Planning Commission’s Aug. 25 review of the Poppy Ranch master sign program, commissioners focused on the proposed freeway-oriented sign’s area and proximity to existing signage and on how the sign would be lit at night.

Tiffany Brown told the commission the code’s typical maximum for a freeway sign is 200 square feet but that the program requests about 320 square feet for the sign’s tenant panel and roughly 100 square feet for the project logo. She also said the city code specifies 1,000 feet of separation between freeway signs, but that the proposed sign would be roughly 500 feet from an existing sign at Cochrane Commons. Commissioner Lobato asked staff which existing sign would be within 500 feet; Brown identified the Cochrane Commons signs that serve Target and nearby tenants.

Commissioners also asked about materials and nighttime lighting. A commissioner asked, “And is there anything about will these signs be lit up backlit with lighting, and is there anything around nighttime lighting?” Brown said the signs are proposed to be backlit acrylic panels and that whether panels remain illuminated overnight is generally up to the shopping center’s management. “It’s up to the shopping center,” she said, and the city does not impose a universal on/off schedule as part of the master sign program review.

Staff emphasized that a master sign program permits case-by-case deviations from sign-code standards and that the commission is responsible for weighing visual and neighborhood impacts against the applicant’s request. After questions and discussion, the commission approved the master sign program including the freeway sign allowance.