Businesses seeking to tap into a Commerce grant to help pay for façade improvements or sign replacements may soon be required to meet new standards.
Meeting last Wednesday morning in a “work session,” the Commerce Downtown Development authority agreed to ask its Design Committee for a recommendation on possible changes in its façade grant program.
The DDA utilizes donations from local lending institutions to award 50-50 matching grants to people improving buildings, including signage. The maximum grant is $1,000.
Currently, the city has less than $9,000 available for grants, according to Denise McKay, the DDA’s executive director.
Chairman Mark McCannon explained one problem with the current criteria: “We’ve had businesses get a grant, and six months later they’re gone,” he said.
But the current discussion began after the DDA, at the recommendation of its Design Committee, rejected an application for a grant from Premiere Storage on the grounds that the signage — vinyl letters on steel — was not aesthetically pleasing.
“What are the standards?” asked member Chris Bulls, whose business, CMC Consulting, was awarded a grant to help pay for new signage. “What is our focus?”
The city has “design standards,” which amount to recommendations, since they are not enforced.
McCannon suggested that the grant standards for building improvements should be less stringent than for signs.
“As soon as they (a business) leave, the sign is worthless,” McCannon pointed out, “but the paint on the building still makes the downtown look better.”
The DDA discussed — but reached no consensus — requiring a business to have a signed lease of one to three years to apply for a façade grant for signage. Ultimately, the DDA opted to ask its Design Committee for a recommendation.
Meanwhile, it will not accept façade grant applications for signage, but McKay said she will “work with” Premiere Storage on a different design for its sign.
