After weeks of negotiating with the Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission, the developers behind Union Promenade finally have the necessary zoning amendment for a special sign district.
Developers Thomas Ackermann and Ralph Meierjohan requested a zoning amendment to create a special sign district within Union Promenade. The development plan calls for some signs that conflict with the Union Town Plan – a land use and zoning plan for the City of Union published in 2000.
Under the Boone County Planning and Zoning code, a special sign district allows for the modification of regulations and requirements for signs located within the district’s geographic outline. A special sign district often pertains to a specific business development, shopping district or tourist attraction.
On March 6, the planning commission recommended a zoning amendment to create a special sign district within the Union Promenade development. The recommendation for approval now heads to the Boone County Fiscal Court, where the body can either vote to agree or override the recommendation.
Union Promenade is a 68-acre, $170 million mixed-use development in Boone County. The project will feature approximately 300 apartment units, 50 patio homes, a multimillion-dollar Cincinnati Children’s Hospital medical facility, and a United Dairy Farmers. An Aldi was also planned for the development, but the Union City Commission voted to deny a zone change that would’ve made way for the grocery store.
“The committee concluded that the proposed special signed district meets the requirements of section 3410.C of the zoning regulations and those findings are the basis for the special sign districts that are codified in the zoning regulations,” Boone County Director of Zoning Services Michael Schwartz said during the meeting.
Ultimately, the commission found that the development’s proposed signage provided a common design scheme that generally conformed to the standard sign regulations.
Schwartz noted that because the Union Promenade development is a mixed-use complex, it required modifications to standard sign regulations.
The commission did require six conditions in its ruling, one of the most notable relating to the height of an off-premise monument community sign planned for the Cincinnati Children’s medical facility.
Cincinnati Children’s originally proposed that its off-premise sign be 20 feet tall. However, after deliberating the sign’s visibility with the planning commission, a condition was passed that imposed a 15-foot height limitation. The commission did stipulate that a 20-foot-tall sign could be built if the height was justified through a view study.
“Basically, it’s getting them to justify why 20 feet is necessary versus 15,” Schwartz said.
Ackermann was present at the meeting and thanked the commission for working with the developer on the special sign district.
“Thank you to the committee members who assisted us and considered some accommodations, and to Mr. Schwartz for working through those. We very much appreciate this opportunity,” he said.
