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Design Review Board

Level 1: Sign

4-A-10-DT

This proposal is for a projecting sign that is 2 feet wide by 8 feet tall, or 16 square feet. The sign will be attached to the building vertically by two brackets above the existing awning, between the second floor windows, as seen in the attached images.

The body of the sign is made of metal and the letters will be made of acrylic. There are two layers to the sign which can be seen in the side view in the attached drawings. There will be blue neon between the inner and outer layer to give a halo effect. There will be white neon behind the white acrylic letters, which are on the outer layer.

Location
428 S Gay St
Applicant Request
This proposal is for a projecting sign that is 2 feet wide by 8 feet tall, or 16 square feet. The sign will be attached to the building vertically by two brackets above the existing awning, between the second floor windows, as seen in the attached images.

The body of the sign is made of metal and the letters will be made of acrylic. There are two layers to the sign which can be seen in the side view in the attached drawings. There will be blue neon between the inner and outer layer to give a halo effect. There will be white neon behind the white acrylic letters, which are on the outer layer.
Staff Comments
This property is located within the National Register Gay Street Commercial Historic District, which means it must meet the sign requirements of Section 1.C.7 Historic Resources (Recommended Signs) and Section 2.B.1 Traditional Grid District (Recommended Signs), of the guidelines. Both sections recommend that projecting signs be no larger than 9 square feet, unless the board feels it is appropriate in context to the surrounding development. There is a projecting sign on the neighboring building that is of similar size and location on the building, as proposed.

The historic resources section also states that signs should not have internal illumination and that signs should be proportional to the building where the sign is located. This sign does have internal illumination but it is done in a fashion that has been acceptable to the board in previous requests (Gridiron Burger and DIA), which is to only allow light to penetrate the sign face to illuminate the letters only.. A sign larger than the required 9 square feet should, in general, be located higher on a building to be in scale with the intention of being pedestrian oriented. This sign will be at approximately the same height as a neighboring sign of similar size which appears to staff to be at an appropriate height.
Applicant

Phire Knoxville, LLC

Planning Staff
Mike Reynolds
Phone: 865-215-3827
Email: mike.reynolds@knoxplanning.org
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