By Bill Short
The Millington Planning Commission has conditionally approved a sign design application for an A&W Restaurant to be located in the former Pizza Hut building on Highway 51.
Commission members took the action unanimously during their Sept. 15 regular monthly meeting on a motion offered by Mary Jo Thornburg and seconded by Mayor Larry Dagen.
The application was submitted by Stephanie Williams of Sharps Sign Co. on behalf of A&W All American Foods.
The property, totaling 0.80 of an acre west of the highway and north of Navy Road, is zoned B-2, General Commercial, and Highway 51 Sign Overlay District.
Katherine Webb, Zoning and Stormwater manager for the city’s Department of Planning and Economic Development, told the commission that the applicant requested approval of a “full” sign design package.
That included two wall signs for the primary structure and a ground-mounted, or “monument,” sign.
While noting that the B-2 zoning district allows a total of 67.5 square feet of sign area for the development, she said the calculations are also impacted by the Sign Overlay District.
The proposed monument sign measures 34 square feet. But because it will be located within the “special sign corridor,” Webb said it cannot be more than 20 feet high.
She noted that, along with “evergreen landscaping,” the same special district requires the sign to be “exclusively ground-mounted” and located 15 feet from the edge of the curb.
The applicant proposed using the “cabinet” of the monument sign as a “sleeve,” welding it to the existing non-conforming pole sign and cutting off the top.
Webb said the planning staff was unsure of the material that will be used, because the applicant did not provide that information.
The applicant has proposed one wall-mounted sign that will replicate the same design as the monument sign.
Webb noted that the wall sign, which measures 29.03 square feet, is also limited by the same overall “bucket” of available area as the monument sign.
The commission approved the sign package, subject to the staff’s review and approval, with two conditions:
(1) the 15-foot setback for the monument sign and
(2) removal of the existing pole sign.
At its July 21 meeting, the commission approved the Site Plan and Design for the A&W Restaurant.
That application was submitted by David Bray of The Bray Firm on behalf of Sam Salloukh of H&M Investment Group Inc.
Cole Yoders, intern/GIS coordinator and inspector in the Planning Department, told the commission that the applicant intends to renovate the existing “non-conforming” building and site for the proposed restaurant.
The city’s Zoning Ordinance requires 24 parking stalls on the property, and Yoders said the plan provides 32.
But he noted that the two stalls proposed at the front of the lot must be removed because of landscaping requirements.
