DRC 01-18-07
Design Review Committee
January 18,2007
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 777-3308
APPROVED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE DESIGN REVIEW
COMMITTEE HELD ON January 18, 2007
ROLL CALL
Committee Members present:
Lisa Giefer, Chairperson
Taghi Saadati, Commissioner
Committee Members absent:
none
Staff present:
Colin Jung
Staff absent:
none
APPROV AL OF MINUTES:
January 7, 2007
Minutes ofthe January 7, 2007 Design Review Committee were approved by Chairperson
Giefer at the meeting and by Commissioner Wong via email.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS:
none
POSTPONEMENTSjREMOV AL FROM CALENDAR:
None
ORAL COMMUNICATION:
none
CONSENT CALENDAR:
None
PUBLIC HEARING:
1.
Application:
Applicant:
Location:
EXC-2006-06
Gary Leith (Homestead Crossing Shopping Center)
22350 Homestead Road
Sign Exception for a 21 foot 6 inch monument sign at an existing shopping center
Design Review Committee decision final unless appealed
Staff member Jung explained that the shopping center has recently undergone renovations and
modernizations. A new monument sign is proposed to conform to the new surroundings. The applicant
has proposed a sign that is 13 feet 5 inches (5 feet of this is the base) and holds 7 tenant names instead of
the standard 5 names. Staff recommends a smaller sign of 11 feet 5 inches, the 2 additional tenant names
are fine, as is the placement of the sign. The placement of the sign in the sidewalk triangle is necessary
2 Design Review Committee
January 18, 2007
due to the shape of the shopping center lot and it did not interfere with traffic safety sight lines. The sign
will need to be on a base to elevate it above the anticipated growth of the landscaping shrubbery. The sign
will be internally illuminated with opaque panels and letter cutouts. Commissioner Saadati asked. for
clarification of the "5 tenant names only" standard and about the height of the base as measured in the
overall sign height. Staff member Jung explained that the 5 names standard is just to avoid a sign that
looks like a reader board and cluttered. The base of a sign has never been part of the overall sign area
measurement but is. counted toward the sign height. Chairperson Giefer asked how large the proposed
sign is in comparison to the other signs at the shopping center located in Los Altos. Staff member Jung
said that Los Altos allows its signs to be larger than those in Cupertino, but that he did not have the exact
sign measurements. The applicant stated that they would prefer to retain the sign base at 5 feet to afford
their tenants maximum visibility, but are willing to compromise. He noted the concerns of the adjacent
property owner, Ms Hamm, but stated that the proposed sign would not obstruct the visibility of her
tenants' signs. The shopping center's owners have worked hard to update the center and that the sign
colors are uniform with the buildings and the other signs around the shopping center. Commissioner
Saadati asked about the width of the sign. The center portion of the sign is proposed to be 8 feet with an
architectural framing feature of about 1 foot on each side of the wording. The sign is similar in design to
the Los Altos center sign. A resident voiced her concerns about the overall mass of the sign and about
being able to see around it. She felt it should be smaller in scale. The adjoining property owner, Jayne
Hamm, shared the resident's concerns about the mass and visibility of her tenant's signs being obstructed
by this proposed sign. Commissioner Saddati feels that the sign could be reduced in width. He also would
like to have the base height reduced by a couple of feet so that the overall sign height would be about 11
feet with the shopping center's name illuminated at night as the current proposal has the name of the
shopping center outside the center portion of the sign so it would not be visible at night. Chairperson
Giefer concurred with Commissioner Saadati's comments. She felt the mass of the sign was too great.
She supported staff s recommendation to reduce the sign to 11 feet 5 inches by reducing the height of the
base. She wanted to have the shopping center's name in the center of the sign face so it would be
illuminated. She suggested a different approach to the architectural feature surrounding the face of the
sign that would help reduce the mass of the sign.
SECOND:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
VOTE:
Commissioner Saadati moved to approve application EXC-2006-06 with the
recommendations of staff the and modifications suggested by the Committee
Chairperson Giefer
None
None
2-0
MOTION:
OLD BUSINESS:
None
NEW BUSINESS:
None
Respectfully submitted:
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Beth Ebben
Administrative Clerk
g:planning/DRC CommitteejMinutesOl1807