Dutch Bros Coffee and Busy Bees are the first two tenants headed for a six-space commercial center on Hunt Highway in San Tan Heights, and one of the last pieces to settle before they open is how tall the sign out front can be.

The Town of San Tan Valley Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed a comprehensive sign plan for the center at its Aug. 24 meeting. The commission took no vote, and it will not take one. Under the town zoning ordinance, the decision belongs to the zoning administrator alone.

The site is at 2515 E. Hunt Hwy. The town staff report places it at the southwest corner of Hunt Highway and Village Lane, across the highway from the Home Depot, WinCo and Walmart corner. Nick Johnson of ES&A Signs & Awning filed the application on behalf of the property ownership and the tenants.

Why the Commission Does Not Vote on This

A comprehensive sign plan sets one signage standard for a whole multi-tenant property instead of handling each business separately. In San Tan Valley, staff brings the plan to the commission for a work session, the commissioners ask questions and give feedback, and then Community Development Director Gilbert Olgin, who also serves as zoning administrator, issues the final decision.

Olgin told the commission a change in state law took site plan and plat approvals away from planning commissions and moved them to administrative review. He said the tradeoff is speed. Under the county, he said, an applicant could pay the fee and wait three months for a decision from a committee. This case reached town staff on a Monday and was in front of the commission the same week, because the tenants are trying to open soon.

Commissioner Donna Hallman asked what recourse an applicant has if staff says no. Olgin said he believes an appeal goes to the Town Council, and told the commission to double-check that against the code.

The Height Question

The center is allowed two monument signs, one on Hunt Highway and one on the collector road directly to the east, each with room for the six tenants. Everything else in the plan follows town code. The height does not.

There is a discrepancy in the record about the standard the request is measured against.

• The applicant's written narrative quotes town code section 4.4.9-C.5, which it says allows a monument sign to be eight feet high and 48 square feet in area. Johnson wrote that the request for 10 feet is within the 25% that section 4.4.15-B.3 permits before a specific justification is required, and that no further justification should be needed.
• Olgin, presenting to the commission, said the applicant asked for 10 feet and has since offered eight, and told commissioners, "Our code says five."

Olgin said his review will weigh what the code allows, what already exists on that stretch of Hunt Highway, and what neighboring jurisdictions do. He noted the Home Depot and WinCo signs nearby stand more than 20 feet tall, approved under old county rules. Of that era he said, "the board could approve essentially anything. There was no guardrails of any kind." He said he plans to compare the town's standard against Queen Creek, Chandler and Gilbert, and to weigh what road a sign sits on.

Commissioners Pushed Back on the Standard

The commissioners could not vote, and several used the work session to argue the town's limit is too low.

Commissioner Paul Bond, a former business owner, said he was once required to install a sign so small that customers could not find him, and that the business eventually closed. "It's not about looks, it's about attracting business," he said.

Commissioner Kennedy Terrill was blunter. "Five is too small," she said, adding that 20 feet may be too large and that the code needs another look sooner rather than later. She pointed to the traffic speeds on Hunt Highway and said drivers will miss a small sign entirely. She also noted that a larger commercial area is coming between Mountain Vista and Thompson, and that a small center and a large one may not warrant the same sign.

Olgin agreed the code can be revisited, and said the town has the ability to adjust the standard by what he believes is 25%. Anything beyond his parameters, he said, requires him to put in writing why he did it.

What Else the Plan Covers

• Dutch Bros wall signs were permitted before the town's code took effect July 1, and the applicant was told those permits would be honored.
• The Busy Bees signage meets current town code with no exception requested.
• The plan includes design guidelines and formulas for the four tenants not yet named, and may need to be amended as those spaces fill.
• Digital signage is allowed under the town's current code, which Olgin noted many older codes do not address.

The decision now rests with Olgin. More on projects moving through review in the area is on our What's Building page.