Council to consider retaining wall signs for Brookwood Village
As part of negotiations with potential major retailers, representatives of Cypress Equities, the owner of Brookwood Village, have asked the council to allow them to put signs on the mall's retaining wall.
The representatives, including Jessica Harcrow of Knight Signs, first presented this during Aug. 31 committee meetings. Cypress is in talks with multiple national chains, they said, but a sticking point in negotiations is that the mall's monument signs are completely full with other retailers' logos, leaving no room for new store signage.
Using the retaining walls requires a sign ordinance variance, but would allow the mall to advertise stores that are less visible from the road.
At tonight's meeting, mall representatives brought ideas to get the council's feedback, not definite plans. They requested six or seven signs on the retaining wall, to be built at roughly the same size as the current Brookwood Village and Z Gallerie signs on the wall. The signs have not been measured due to the difficulty of accessing them, but they're believed to be around four feet high.
The mall representatives proposed that all signs on the retaining wall would have a monochrome color, most likely bronze, and would be written in one of five pre-approved fonts, not each store's individual logo. Representatives also said that if needed, they would consider removing the existing Brookwood sign on the wall to make room for a retailer sign.
Council members gave varying opinions on the number, size and fonts of the signs. Ward 5 Representative Peter Wright said the mall had to maintain a "delicate balance" between visibly advertising the stores and making the signs too big or otherwise unappealing, potentially driving away stores. He added that it was an important thing, however, to attempt to bring retailers to the empty first-floor spaces.
The public hearing on the signs was carried over until the next council meeting. Mall representatives will incorporate the council's feedback into a formal proposal to present next time.
The council also chose to dissolve the Community Development Review Committee (CDRC) for West Homewood in an 8-2 vote. Council members such as Wright and Ward 2 Representative Fred Hawkins supported the dissolution because they felt it placed extra burden on city staff and the public would get a chance to voice their opinions on potential development by going through the planning and zoning commission and the BZA. The CDRC is not a public hearing format.
Hawkins' ward-mate Vance Moody disagreed, stating that he has seen a history of West Homewood being underrepresented by the commission and the BZA. The elected nature of some of the CDRC positions would give it more accountability to residents. He proposed instead to replace the staff positions on the CDRC with appointed members from Ward 2.
"Fred and I quite frankly do not agree on this," Moody said.
The council, however, voted to dissolve the committee instead. It will continue to function until its sole current case, the redevelopment proposal of the Oxmoor Road Econo Lodge, is resolved.
Other council business included:
- Approving payment of $5,000 to resolve parking drainage issues at Lee Center.
- Approving the mayor to enter an agreement with Volkert Engineering for a pavement management system. The council will pay for this with $9,600 allocated from the 7-cent gas tax.
- Setting a public hearing for Sept. 28 to consider a sign variance request for H&R Block, located at 1934 28th Ave. S.
- Declaring the following city items surplus: three oil-burning heaters, a sandblaster's parts and dust collector, a pneumatic bumper lift jack, an AC recycling machine and a street sweeper.
- Ward 3 Representative Walter Jones said the finance committee wrapped up budget discussions at its Sept. 14 meeting, two weeks ahead of schedule. The budget will be presented for approval prior to Oct. 1.