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Carbondale ponders change to sign regulations

The Carbondale Planning Commission will gather tonight to discuss a proposed amendment that would allow businesses to display signs not only on the business site, but also in their business development area.

The change would be to the text of Section 15-2G of the Carbondale Revised Code, which if recommended, would be passed on to the Carbondale City Council, whose members would vote on the amendment at a special meeting Thursday.

The M.P. Land Trust, currently in negations to finalize the sale of property on Giant City Road for a 90,000-square-foot Kohl's, submitted the application to amend the zoning text to allow a freestanding sign within its business development area.

In its current definition, the code stipulates that a business district "occupy a single building or separate buildings that are physically attached."

"I think [M.P. Land Trust] made a good argument as to why it should be redefined," said Tom Redmond, Development Services director for the City of Carbondale. "This is not the only property that could be benefited from the change. We realize that there are other businesses that would be of benefit."

M.P. Land Trust requested in its submission the definitions of business development and shopping center in Section 15-2G-3 be revised to differentiate between the two and that Section 15-2-G-8.A.8 delete business developments from the regulation that prohibits individual business from using a freestanding sign.

The re-definition, if passed, would enable business developments such as the one located at the Reed Station Road Crossing, where a Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn and a Houlihan's restaurant are being constructed, to place a sign where it would be most visible to traffic anywhere within its development.

"Now, we see more or more developments that come about that are individual or freestanding building, but are in a cluster of developments," Carbondale City Manager Jeff Doherty said. "The types of business developments have evolved away from Strip mall or mall to now freestanding buildings. [But] at the same, they involve the same developer and share parking lots and other sorts of things."

Since being adopted in 1974, the regulations on sign usage have been amended numerous times. The latest change was a provision last year that allowed off-premise directional signs.

"The staff recommendations so far has been positive," Redmond said. "This particular request is the first time someone has asked to re-define the use of freestanding signs, but there have been many requests to amend the sign ordinance."

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall.