[AZ-Observing] Here We Go Again - More Brilliant Thinking
- From: "Chuck" <astrogeoc@xxxxxxx>
- To: "EVAC" <evac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 21:46:27 -0700
80 foot signs may dot Mesa
Adam Klawonn
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 10, 2004 12:00 AM
Picture scrolling messages, streaming video and Las Vegas-style lighting on
signs up to 80 feet tall along Mesa's freeway corridors.
They're dubbed "freeway landmark monuments," and city leaders gave the proposed
rules allowing them another nod Thursday.
It will be introduced on a City Council agenda Jan. 20 and signifies a major
departure from Mesa's long-held tradition discouraging large signs along the
freeway.
But council members, who have debated the rules for the past year, say it's a
balance between business needs and the desire to preserve Mesa residents'
views.
Mayor Keno Hawker says the issue troubles him because it could burden a
taxpaying public with signs on right-of-way land they purchased for freeways.
Mesa Zoning Administrator John Gendron says it is unclear if citizens are ready
for it.
"It depends on how many we get and what form they take," he said. "I think
people would expect to see a certain number of signs along the freeway. I don't
know if people will be objectionable or not. I really don't."
The rules would impact the roadsides along the Loop 202 and U.S. 60, and
possibly Mesa areas along Loop 101.
Gendron said the signs could be anywhere from 12 to 80 feet tall. The new rules
would allow them on sites of at least 30 acres immediately adjacent to the
freeway.
They also say the signs must be at least 1,320 feet from each other - about
four football fields, and no more than 200 feet from the right-of-way.
The cost of the newfangled signs can range from $150,000 to $1 million,
officials say. The city would collect one-time fees of 3 percent of the sign's
total valuation, 30 cents per square foot of the sign's surface area, plus a
$1,000 application fee for a permit.
The guidelines, which the council can tweak because it issues the permit,
coincide with a clutch of commercial projects coming online: Car dealers like
Lexus at the Superstition Springs auto mall, Riverview at Dobson, and Fiesta
Mall.
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