Galaxy FBO is a private corporate and general aviation facility currently under construction on Addison Airport property at the southwest corner of Addison Road and George Haddaway Drive. During the review of the sign permit application for this new facility, staff determined that a proposed attached wall sign facing towards Addison Road did not comply with the Town’s sign code due to the logo height and effective area of the attached sign.
The Town’s sign ordinance limits the attached wall sign letter/logo height to 24 inches, with up to 50 percent of the letters and logos not to exceed 25 percent of the maximum (30 inches). This sign includes a logo and 9 letters, with only three letters being greater than 24 inches and less than 30 inches in height. The Galaxy FBO logo exceeds the 30 inch maximum logo height.
Additionally, the Town’s sign ordinance limits the effective sign area for a building. The effective area is defined by the overall height and width of the entire sign. Due to the logo placement above the sign lettering, the overall height of the sign is 6.8 feet, and the sign width is 15 feet, resulting in an effective area of 102.11 square feet.
After consideration of compliance with the Town’s sign code, Galaxy FBO elected to pursue a Meritorious Exception to the sign code. Galaxy FBO is requesting specific exceptions to the following:
- Exceeding the maximum 30-inch logo height by 16 inches.
- Exceeding the 100 square feet maximum effective sign area by 2.11 square feet. The Town’s sign ordinance defines effective area as the area enclosed by drawing a rectangle of horizontal and vertical lines which fully contain all extremities of the sign drawn to scale.
The applicant is pursuing a Meritorious Exception to the sign ordinance in accordance with code provisions stated below:
Town of Addison Code of Ordinances, Chapter 62 (Signs)
Section 62-33. – Meritorious exceptions.
(d)(3) The council may consider appeals on the basis that such regulations and/or standards will, by reason of exceptional circumstances or surroundings, constitute a practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship or on the basis that the proposed improvement although falling under the definition of a "sign," constitutes art that makes a positive contribution to the visual environment.
Staff believes that the hardship criteria of the Meritorious Exception requirements is met due to the size and orientation of the building and the design of the Galaxy FBO brand.
This facility consists of three airplane hangars and an FBO building which occupy almost 800 feet of frontage along Addison Road. At the proposed wall sign location, the sign is setback a distance of 140 feet from Addison Road. Signage is vital for large facilities such as this to direct guests to the appropriate public entrance of the building. In this case, the only attached business identification sign at the Addison Road frontage is at the primary entry of the facility and is proportionate in scale to the building elevation. While the logo may be relocated to satisfy the maximum sign area, the height of the sign logo would have to be significantly reduced, limiting the effectiveness and aesthetic appeal of the sign. |