Board of Zoning Appeals

THESE ARE THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018, AT 7:00 P.M. HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL, 2000 N. CALHOUN ROAD, BROOKFIELD. MEMBERS PRESENT: Kevin Bublitz, Gordon Rozmus, Robert Buikema, Alderman Ron Balzer MEMBERS ABSENT & EXCUSED: Rod Carter, Frank DeGuire, Alderman Lisa Mellone (alt.) ALSO PRESENT: Larry Goudy, Zoning & Building Administrator Kevin Bublitz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. He stated that the notice of hearing has been duly published pursuant to the State open meetings law and explained the procedure to present the appeals to the Board this evening. 1. Roll Call Mr. Bublitz indicated that a quorum is present and that the request for variances must receive the affirmative vote of three members of the Board in order for a request to be granted. New Business: 2a. November 9, 2017, Minutes • Robert Buikema moved approval of the November 9, 2017, Board of Appeals meeting minutes. Seconded by Gordon Rozmus and carried unanimously. ******** Public Hearing & Consideration of Appeal: Certain requests for building permits have been submitted to the City of Brookfield and have been denied by the Zoning & Building Administrator because they did not comply with the Zoning, Building or Sign Code of the City of Brookfield. There will be a Public Hearing held before the Board of Appeals on January 11, 2018, at 7:00 pm at the Common Council Chambers for the express purpose of considering the following request(s) for variance. Please note that following the public hearing(s) the Board intends to take action by considering the request indicated: 3a. ICA Brookfield Venture (Calhoun Crossing), 17260/17300/17330 W. Bluemound Rd.: Main Identification Sign (5 tenant panels) The next item was the request of ICA Brookfield Venture LLC, Lot 1 CSM 11340 Doc #4161833 Rec 8-20-15 Rediv Lots 1 & 2 CSM 4716 (Doc #1296227) NE ¼ Se ¼ Sec 28 T7N R20E, to appeal Section 15.16.150 H. to permit a main identification sign with five tenant panels at 17260/17300/17330 W. Bluemound Road. The code permits a maximum of four tenant panels on a main identification sign. Mr. Larry Goudy stated this is a request from Calhoun Crossing for a main identification sign for the center. There will be two main identification signs at the site. One is on Calhoun Board of Appeals Page 2 January 11, 2018 Road and the other is on Bluemound Road. It is permitted by Code. There is no issue for height or maximum square footage of the signs, but they are proposing five tenants panels on the sign along with their main identification for the center. Gordon Rozmus asked if the signs were at the entry points. Mr. Goudy replied yes, at the driveways on Calhoun and Bluemound. Claudette Zach, Senior Manager with HSA Commercial and Building Management for Brookfield Venture, stated she manages this center and Brookfield Fashion Center. Currently, they do not have signs on the property. They have space for five tenants in the back building. Visibility is difficult for those tenants. DSW sales have gone down because the lack of visibility. The outbuilding also blocks the view for those back tenants. They are not asking for additional square footage on the sign. They would shorten the base design, though. They would like to increase the visibility and make the vacant tenant spaces more attractive. It’s been nearly two years with those vacant spaces. Mr. Rozmus felt that the sign on Calhoun Road is really necessary. It would serve the north and the south bound traffic. It is a different opening to get to that property. The driveway could easily be missed because there is no sign there. It is also far enough away from the intersection but close enough for traffic to see that sign. Alderman Balzer asked if there was any one else in that area that has more than four tenant panels on the sign. Mr. Goudy replied the Corridor does, which was done thru a PDD. The other signs that do are located westerly on Bluemound Road, in the Town of Brookfield. Ms. Zach added that their project is a PDD as well, but possibly signage wasn’t added to any approval conditions. Mr. Bublitz stated that he doesn’t believe this will cause any undue concentration of signage. The sign as proposed is of a design and style that is acceptable. He believes there are some site difficulties mainly in regard to visibility and traffic and the driveway entrances that cause some difficulty. His main concern is setting a precedent for other centers in the area. He noticed that all the other centers along Bluemound Road seem to be limited to four panels. Mr. Buikema stated that it seems there would be a panel for each tenant at the center. He feels the site would justify it but it’s sort of funky with the layout because it’s not that visible. He asked if one of the panels could be split. Mr. Goudy replied that would count as two. Mr. Goudy stated at a location on Capitol Drive (Capitol Plaza West), they had a similar desire to have six panels. They received approval of four panels but different names on each side of it. Mr. Buikema asked if there was any way to make this work. Mr. Goudy stated the PDD ordinance would have to be amended which would need Plan Commission and Common Council approval. Alderman Balzer expressed his concern about the driveway on Calhoun Road, which he has told the Police Department about. The driveway is very narrow and it should be much wider for turning purposes. It’s so dangerous. Going north from that driveway is near impossible. He goes out by the lights on Bluemound Road instead. He wouldn’t see the sign when it’s there. The driveway is so narrow. Board of Appeals Page 3 January 11, 2018 Mr. Goudy reiterated that there is no question that there should be signage on both streets. The question for this Board is if they should be allowed to have five panels, rather than four. Mr. Goudy stated back in the 1980’s, the only signage allowed was a main identification sign with no panels at all. Then they expanded the allowable panels to two, and then expanded it four after that. When Mayor Bloomberg was here, the sign code was created in 1989. She believed that Bluemound Road was a signage mess and signs were impossible to read because of the amount of tenants identified and the size. She wanted to go more towards a monument style sign and something easier to read. However, there has been some relaxing of the regulations in the code since that time. Mr. Buikema stated he is very supportive of the business but can’t get over setting precedence because we are going to see a wave of sign variances coming in asking for five panels if approved. Ms. Zach stated she has LOI’s for both tenant spaces and wants visibility. Mr. Bublitz replied they can still have wall signs. • Rod Buikema moved to deny the variance. The motion was seconded Kevin Bublitz. The motion carried Ayes 3, No’s 1 with Alderman Balzer voting no. ****** • Rod Buikema moved to adjourn. Seconded by Kevin Bublitz and carried unanimously. Meeting ended at 7:20 p.m. Minutes submitted by Renee J. Tadych, Deputy City Clerk.