The Commerce City Council may be on the fence about granting a variance in the city’s sign ordinance for Walgreens, but the Commerce Planning Commission is not.
The planners, who make recommendations on land use and zoning matters for the city council, reaffirmed their opposition to the variance Monday night.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to stand your ground,” said Chairman Greg Perry. “If we approve this, we won’t have a sign ordinance.”
“I agree,” said member Johnny Eubanks.
The one member of the group who at the June meeting supported Walgreens’ request, Joe Leffew, was absent for the July 28 meeting.
Walgreens seeks a 43-square-foot sign with an electronic letterboard. The city ordinance limits the sign to 24 square feet and limits letterboards to showing time and temperature. Walgreens plans to use its letterboard for advertising.
The planning commission voted 4-1 to recommend that the city council deny the request, but at its July 14 meeting the council tabled the issue amid what appeared to be some support for granting the variance.
At that time, the developer of the site at the corner of North Broad Street and Homer Road listed several other variances granted by the city.
Perry said Monday night that each of those variances had unique factors and that the city could sustain a decision to reject the Walgreens’ variance in court. For example, he said, the variance for an entrance sign to the new industrial park at Interstate 85 “is two miles out of town in a field,” and the variance provided to CarQuest was for a business that “does not front on one of our main streets.”
He suggested that Walgreens’ developer had issued a “veiled threat” to sue “if you don’t give us what we want.”
WAKE UP! Your town has lost all its historic appeal as those charming old homes and properties have been torn down to make way for "progress"! A sign might actually spruce the place up!
Jefferson, Braselton and even Winder has more historic
properties than Commerce. Change is in the making. If it's not what you want you can move and start you own town.
"greasing" the planners pocket? I think so....the "good ole' boy network" did that. and for real...look at your empty city!!
You all are just stupid peons acting like hot shots! a sing ordanance is a joke people. I hope walgreens denies you the right to play boss with them and puts up a bilboard and lets you go spend allll the citys money fighting it in court...Infact i'm gonna put one up and I dare any of you theives to tell me to take it down...
I believe the fuss is not about a sign, 20% is always fussing about something. Why don't you people get a life, so you can let people live theirs!!!