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Agenda Item 12.

Planning Commission

Meeting Date:

02/26/2019

Subject:

AMENDMENT TO CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. CUP 16-02 – A REQUEST TO AMEND THE EXISTING MASTER SIGN PROGRAM FOR THE EMBASSY RETAIL COURT.

REQUEST

Mr. Patrick M. Nesbitt, on behalf of Nesbit Partners Brea Venture, LTD., is requesting to amend the master sign program for Embassy Retail Court, which was first approved by Conditional Use Permit No. CUP 16-02 in March 2016. Chapter 20.28 of the Zoning Code allows consideration of a comprehensive sign program subject to a Conditional Use Permit. Significant modifications to an approved sign program requires the review and approval of the Planning Commission.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends the Planning Commission approve amendment to Conditional Use Permit No. CUP 16-02, subject to the conditions in the draft Resolution.

BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION

BACKGROUND

Embassy Retail Court is located at the southwest corner of Birch Street and the Mall Entrance Road (see Figure 1). The property is developed with an Embassy Suites hotel on the west side and the retail court building on the east side. At the time of development, Embassy Suite’s sign criteria was adopted by the Planning Commission as a part of Development Agreement No. DA 88-2. In March 2016, a comprehensive sign program was approved and updated and enhanced the overall signs for the retail court through a comprehensive approach to sign placement, and style. The applicant is requesting to amend the existing sign program to include revised placement and standards resulting in greater flexibility for the management of the property and higher quality for sign design.

DISCUSSION
The proposed amendment to the Embassy Retail Court sign program will continue to provide sign criteria addressing the needs of current and future commercial tenants. The new program includes robust standards outlining expectations for sign design and material. The existing sign program does not include standards that explicitly speak to sign design, construction and materials. The new program is proposing solid aluminum sign faces, sides, and panels with creative lighting methods including various types of halo illumination and back-lit dimensional letters. The amended sign program also proposes a maximum letter height of 24 inches and a maximum logo height of 36 inches for all tenants, regardless of being a major or secondary tenant, providing a streamlined appearance and avoiding dominant sign design by a single tenant.

The current sign program shows 25 sign locations on the building for the retail court’s commercial tenants. The proposed amendment reduces the amount of locations to 13, maximizing and enabling visibility for the commercial tenants. The applicant is proposing to allow a maximum of 5 tenant signs on the Birch Street façade, 5 signs on the Mall Entrance Road façade and 3 tenant signs on the building facing the Brea Mall (See Exhibit A – Amended Sign Program). The reduced number of signs coupled with the improved design standards will result in a less cluttered façade and will improve the building aesthetics overall.

The proposed amendment to the sign program will provide a comprehensive set of standards, ensuring higher quality sign design and greater flexibility and opportunities for future commercial tenants while maintaining architectural compatibility with the existing buildings and signs on the property.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

The proposed project as submitted is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061b.3 of Title 14, Chapter 3, Article 19 of the California Code of Regulations.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

Jennifer A. Lilley, AICP, City Planner
Prepared by: Paige Montojo, Assistant Planner

Attachments
1. Technical Background
2. Vicinity Map
3. Notice of Public Hearing
4. Draft Resolution
5. Proposed Sign Program