CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

Council Report
March 3, 2015
To:

Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council and

Douglas J. Schmitz, City Administrator

From:

Rob Mullane, AICP, Community Planning and Building Director

Subject:

Consideration of findings for approval for Sign Application (SI 14-36) for
an exterior wall-mounted business sign at a site located in the Service
Commercial (SC) Zoning District

RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the attached findings and special conditions for the approval of
Sign Application (SI 14-36).
__________________________________________________________________________
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On January 6, 2015, the City Council upheld an Appeal by C Pines
7 of a Planning Commission denial of Sign Permit (SI 14-36) for an exterior sign on the
Seventh and Dolores Building. The Council directed staff to return with Findings for Approval
and Conditions of Approval for the project, and these are included as Attachments 1 and 2.
In the Councils consideration of the sign permit in January, the Council directed revisions to
the proposed sign: 1) for the sign to revert to the 2 wall stand-offs, and 2) for the sign
material to use an uncoated, uncolored natural metal with the application of a transparent
coating acceptable as an option. The Conditions of Approval reflect this design change. This
item was continued without discussion from the February 3, 2015 Council meeting

FISCAL IMPACT:
The City collects a fee of $304.82 when an appeal to the City Council is filed. This fee
defrays some of the staff time costs for processing the appeal, and staff costs beyond the
appeal fee are paid out of the Citys General Fund.
Budgeted (yes/no)
Yes

Funding Source( general fund, grant,

state)
Appeal Fee and General Fund

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION/DECISION HISTORY:

Sign Permit 14-36 was considered and denied by the Planning Commission on 10/8/14. The
City Council considered and upheld the applicants appeal of the sign permit denial on 1/6/15.
The Council continued the item on 2/3/15, due to a lack of a quorum.
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Agenda Item: 8.E

ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 Findings for Approval
Attachment 2 Conditions of Approval

APPROVED:

____________________________________

Date: __________________

Douglas J. Schmitz, City Administrator

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Agenda Item: 8.E

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PLANNING AND BUILDING
FINDINGS FOR APPROVAL
SI 14-36
CPines 7, LLC
th
SE Corner of 7 and Dolores
Block 91, Lots 2, 4, 6, & 8
APN: 010-145-020
CONSIDERATION:
Consideration of Sign Permit (SI 14-36) to install an exterior wall-mounted business sign at
a site located in the Service Commercial (SC) Zoning District.
RECITALS:
1.

The commercial business is located on the southeast corner of Seventh and

Dolores.

2.

The applicant applied for a Sign Permit on August 27, 2014, to install an exterior
wall-mounted business sign.

3.

The proposed sign exceeded City staffs administrative authority for exterior
business signs under CMC 17.40.030.C and CMC 17.40.050.C. The proposed wallmounted sign exceeds 6 square feet and did not meet the standards for the location
of exterior business signs.

4.

CMC Section 17.40.010.C prohibits all signs not expressly permitted by this chapter
unless authorized by specific action of the Planning Commission.

5.

The Planning Commission denied the Sign Permit (SI 14-36) on October 8, 2014,
citing concerns with the style and sign of the sign in the context of the existing and
surrounding buildings.

6.

The Appeal of Planning Commission Application was filed by the project applicant,
Adam Jeselnick, on October 9, 2014, with the grounds of the appeal being the
applicants objection to reducing the size of the proposed sign as requested by the
Planning Commission. The appellant maintained that a reduced size would result in
a sign that is not be in scale with the building.

7.

The applicant submitted a revised Site Plan and Rendering, on November 18, 2014.
The revised Site Plan depicts the individual letters installed flush to the stucco wall
rather than with 2-inch stand-offs previously proposed. The revised rendering was
provided to more accurately depict the proposed sign lettering, including the

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proposed color and finish.

8.

The City Council considered the appeal of the sign denial at a duly-noticed public
hearing on January 6, 2015, and at this hearing, by motion and vote, expressed an
intent to uphold the appeal and directed staff to bring back revised findings and
conditions of approval for Council action. The Council, in their consideration of the
design of the sign, directed modifications to the proposed design, including that the
sign should use the 2-inch wall standoffs and that the material of the sign should be
an uncoated, uncolored natural metal with the application of a transparent coating
acceptable as an option.

9.

Staff has prepared revised findings and conditions of approval, including the
revisions to the sign directed by the Council on January 6, 2015, for the Councils
consideration at the meeting of March 3, 2015.

FINDINGS FOR DECISION

1.

Finding: The project has been reviewed pursuant to the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA) and is determined to be exempt from further environmental
review as a Class 11 Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15311 of the State
CEQA Guidelines.
Evidence: Class 11 exemptions include placement of minor structures accessory
to existing commercial, industrial, or institutional facilities, including on-premise
signs. The building, while an important building designed by an important local
architect: Mr. Walter Burde, has not been designated as a significant historic
resource, and the aesthetics of the sign have been reviewed by the City Council and
determined to be acceptable. Furthermore, a sign is a removable feature that does
not significantly alter the buildings integrity. The proposed sign presents no other
unusual components that would result in any environmental impacts.

2.

Finding: The proposed sign is consistent with Objective O1-17 of the General
Plan, which states:
Maintain diligent control over signs and other advertising or notice-attracting
facilities in order to avoid unsightly, bizarre, and/or out-of-scale visual impacts,
including exterior lighting and lights from window displays.
Evidence: Chapter 17. 40 of the City Municipal Code sets forth standards and
guidelines for signage in the City. Section 17.40.030.C sets forth the standards to
be used for calculating sign area and states in part: For irregularly shaped signs,
the area shall be that of the smallest rectangle that wholly contains the sign. The
proposed wall-mounted sign is a total of 24.81 square feet in area and wraps across
two separate faces of the building. While this substantially exceeds the 6-sq ft
maximum allowed wall sign area for administrative approval of signs, the stated

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area is affected by the extensions on some of the letters, whereas the balance of
the sign copy has smaller letters and is not out of scale with the building, given its
substantial size.
3.

Finding: The proposed sign is consistent with Policy P1-53 of the General Plan,
which states:
Limit the use of unnecessary of unsightly design elements such as excessive
numbers of signs, nonfunctional awnings, exterior displays, interior displays, and
architectural contrivances used primarily as advertising and notice-attracting
features visible from the public right-of-way.
Evidence: The proposed sign has lettering with extensions as part of the sign
design. These create visual interest and are not deemed architectural contrivances.
The wrap-around design is desirable as the building is on a prominent street corner
and is a preferable design to two separate (and possibly identical) signs: one on
each street frontage.

4.

Finding: The proposed sign is consistent with Policy P1-55 of the General Plan,
which states:
Encourage the location of signs near the entrance to the businesses they serve.
Evidence: The proposed wall-mounted sign is on the corner of the building, which
is on a corner lot. While the buildings entrance is approximately 22 feet from the
closest edge of the sign, a single wrap-around sign visible to both frontages is
preferable to a single sign at the main entrance on Dolores Street. The proposed
design also is preferable to two separate (and possibly identical) signs: one on each
street frontage.

5.

Finding: The proposed sign is consistent with Policy P1-56 of the General Plan,
which states:
Encourage business signs that are simple in graphic design, informative of the
business use, and compatible in color and design with adjoining structures.
Evidence: The sign, while contemporary in style on a mid-Century building, is
simple in design, and compatible in color and complimentary in design to the
adjacent building. The City Council made this determination based on review of the
sign at the January 6, 2015 hearing and the Tour of Inspection on January 5, 2015.
The Council noted no concerns with the style of the sign and did not see that it was
incompatible with the buildings architecture.

6.

Finding: The City Council finds that the proposed design results in an attractive
sign that is in scale and compatible with the adjacent building as well as compatible

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with the surrounding neighborhood.

Evidence: The City Council made this determination based on review of the sign at
the January 6, 2015 hearing and the Tour of Inspection on January 6, 2015. In the
Councils discussion, it was noted that the subject building is large and has
supported similarly large signage in the past. The Council also discussed the
Carmel Plaza wall signs as being similar to the requested wall sign with a large
building faade and a sign that needs to be bigger than the administrative approval
limit of 6 sq ft to be at an appropriate scale for compatibility and visibility.

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Agenda Item: 8.E

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PLANNING AND BUILDING
CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL
SI 14-36
CPines 7, LLC
SE Corner of 7th and Dolores
Block 91; Lots 2, 4, 6, & 8
APN: 010-145-020
CONSIDERATION:
Consideration of Sign Application (SI 14-36) to install an exterior wall-mounted business
sign and 2 parking lot signs at a site located in the Service Commercial (SC) Zoning
District.
AUTHORIZATION:
1.

This permit authorizes the installation of one two-part exterior wall-mounted sign
that would wrap around the southeast corner of the Event Center building on the SE
th
corner of 7 and Dolores. The copy of the two-part sign would be: SEVENTH &
DOLORES. The wall sign would be installed as individual metal letters (an
uncoated, uncolored natural metal with the optional application of a transparent
coating or sealant) mounted with 2-inch offsets to the stucco wall. The copy
SEVENTH would be 15.31 sf (2 11 in height and 5 3 in length) and would be
installed on the north-facing corner of the building fronting 7th Ave., and the copy &
DOLORES would be 9.5 sf (1 x 6 in height x 6 4 in length) and would be installed
on the west-facing corner of the building fronting Dolores Street, as depicted on the
revised Elevation and Sign Rendering dated November 18, 2014. This permit also
authorizes the installation of two parking information signs as described in the staff
report for the October 8, 2014 Planning Commission meeting.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS:
2.

No other signage is allowed on the building without prior approval from the
appropriate City authority. Any existing temporary or unpermitted signage shall be
removed within 24 hours of the installation of the wall-mounted signage, unless the
requisite permits are obtained for any such additional signage.

3.

Within two working days of installation of the approved signage, the applicant shall
notify the Case Planner in writing so that a compliance site inspection can be
scheduled. The compliance site visit shall occur within two weeks of the signage
installation.

4.

The applicant agrees, at its sole expense, to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless
the City, its public officers, employees, and assigns, from any liability; and shall

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reimburse the City for any expense incurred, resulting from, or in connection with
any project approvals. This includes any appeal, claim, suit, or other legal
proceeding, to attack, set aside, void, or annul any project approval. The City shall
promptly notify the applicant of any legal proceeding, and shall cooperate fully in the
defense. The City may, at its sole discretion, participate in any such legal action,
but participation shall not relieve the applicant of any obligation under this condition.
Should any party bring any legal action in connection with this project, the Superior
Court of the County of Monterey, California, shall be the situs and have jurisdiction
for the resolution of all such actions by the parties hereto.
*Acknowledgement and acceptance of conditions of approval.

________________________
Applicant Signature

____________________
Printed Name

___________
Date

______________________
Property Owner Signature

____________________
Printed Name

___________
Date

Once signed, please return to the Community Planning and Building Department.

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