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Summary Staff Report:
This text amendment was
initiated by the Board of Supervisors on March 8, 2007.
The purpose of this
amendment is to allow increased signage for very large
buildings occupied by a single commercial enterprise. At
present, each commercial enterprise located within a
building is limited to a maximum of 150 square feet of
signage under the Zoning Ordinance. While in most cases
this is adequate for smaller tenants, it is inadequate for a
large (big box) store, particularly when the building is
significantly set back from the road.
 The
current formula for calculating commercial signage is to
allow two (2) square feet of sign area for each of the first fifty (50)
linear feet of building frontage occupied by an individual
business, plus one (1) square foot of sign area for each
linear foot over fifty (50) linear feet of building frontage
but, in no event, shall total sign area exceed 150 square
feet.
The proposed amendment allows
additional signage up to the maximum established in the
formula above if authorized by special exception for
buildings larger than 100,000 square feet, provided that any
sign larger than 150 square feet is set back from all
streets at least one (1) foot for each one (1) square foot
of sign.
This amendment is intended to
allow signage in keeping with the dimensions of a large
building while protecting the aesthetic sensibilities of the
community through the special exception process.
On March 29, 2007, the
Planning Commission conducted a public hearing. By
unanimous vote, the Planning Commission held the hearing
open and continued further consideration of the amendment
until the meeting in April. On April 26, 2007 the Planning
Commission voted to recommend approval of an alternative
text amendment. The Commission had significant concerns
about the amount of signage a building could potentially
secure, and the very large size of individual signs that
could result. While today, the largest any single sign can
be under the ordinance is 150 square feet, much larger
bill-board type signs could be allowed under the revision.
Commission members felt that such large signs were not
consistent with the character of Fauquier County. However,
they did agree that larger businesses might need more than
150 square feet of total signage. The Commission’s proposed
language increases total signage possible from 150 square
feet to 500 square feet for big box uses, with no individual
building face or individual sign having more than 150 square
feet.
The originally proposed Board
of Supervisors' language is provided as
Attachment 1.
The Planning Commission’s alternative language is provided
in Attachment 2. Alternative
language discussed at the Board of Supervisor June 14 work
session is provided as
Attachment 3.
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