AGENDA DATE: 7/8/2015
TITLE:
Title
Private Use of Public Signs
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Discussion of Policy Relating to Private Use of Public Signs
ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Foley, Walker, Davis, Herrick, Graham, McCulley, Higgins
PRESENTER (S): Ron Higgins
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Thomas C. Foley
BACKGROUND: Albemarle Health Care Center LLC (AHCC) has approached staff with a request to locate an off-site sign on County property near the Monticello Fire Station to serve AHCC's new business. To avoid a proliferation of billboards, the County's sign ordinance restricts off-site signs by requiring most of them to have a special use permit issued by the Board of Zoning Appeals. To obtain such a permit, the owner must demonstrate that it has exhausted all possible locations and sign types for an on-site sign, and that no on-site sign face located at the site entrance would be visible from the street providing direct access to the site entrance within one hundred (100) feet of the site entrance.
Staff initially advised AHCC of the three-step process used to approve a previous request by the Church of the Incarnation for an off-site directional sign on County property:
1. Request permission of the Board of Supervisors (as owner of the property) to be a co-applicant on the application for a special use permit.
2. Seek issuance of a special use permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
3. Obtain a sign easement or license from the County, subject to Board of Supervisors' approval.
This process is intended to ensure that permits for off-site signs, especially on County property, are granted sparingly and serve public purposes.
Because the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) certified that the prior request of the Church of the Incarnation was needed to improve traffic safety, staff recommended approval of the Church's request based on it serving a public purpose. However, af...
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