DEVELOPER LANCE OSBORNE’S PROPOSED GETGO SIGNS: SO BIG YOU CAN SEE THEM FROM SPACE

The proposed development agreement that Lance Osborne presented to Council this week was incomplete and lacking in exhibits, but it did include one new item:  gigantic, 18-foot-tall, illuminated/LED GetGo signs.

Even if Osborne’s 100 square foot signs aren’t actually big enough to be seen from space—okay, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration---his proposed signs would be big enough (18’ x 15’2”) and brightly lit enough to be seen from Richmond Heights, from I-271 and from planes flying to and from the Cuyahoga County airport.

Heck, not even Mayfield Heights allows signs like that, even along heavily commercialized Mayfield Road.

Where does Osborne thinks this GetGo will be located----Lake County?

The Bishop/Brainard/Wilson Mills intersection is a well-established commercial area.
The businesses in that area---the Shell gas station, the Brown-Flynn building and the large professional building ---use tasteful ground signs to advertise their businesses.  Those signs reflect the established aesthetics of that commercial corner.  

Obviously Osborne doesn’t care about those aesthetics---or about fitting into the neighborhood.
He might not care about those things, but Council should.

Highland Heights Ordinance 1145.01 lists five “purposes” for the city’s sign ordinances, including:

• “protect property values” ( #1)
•  “protect and enhance the appearance and character of all areas of the City (#3)  and
•  “protect …the visual environment along City streets (#4).

1145.01 also directs that those purposes are to be accomplished through “restriction of the total sign area per sign.”

Ordinance 1145.08 limits “free-standing” signs in Motor Service districts (the proposed new zoning classification for the mega GetGo gas station, subject to voter approval in November) to:

“a single free-standing sign, not to exceed thirty square feet in area.”

Of course a 30 square foot sign isn’t big enough to be seen from space…

Osborne dismissively called the Highland Heights zoning code “antiquated” when discussing his gigantic mega GetGo outdoor advertising signs with Council this week. 

Osborne's beef with the Highland Heights zoning code is that it's designed to protect residents and residential neighborhoods instead of enabling his "development at all costs" project.

Boo hoo. 

If he can't follow the rules, maybe it's time for him to come up with a different plan.