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Tuesday, 23 January 2007 16:14 |
 By DAVID FORBES
A recent letter from Staples to Asheville City Council promises to take steps to address the impact of some controversial design features, such as a high wall, in the Staples office supply store on Merrimon Avenue, but asserts that its large sign is legal ÇƒÓ something that many council members disputed on Jan. 16.
"In exploring the request to change our signage, we found that it would require significant investment," the letter from Staples Vice President for Real Estate Ted Frumkin to Mayor Terry Bellamy read. "We do not plan to change a sign that was approved by the city and, according to our local lawyer, is in compliance with all of Ashevilleës codes."
Not so, Councilwoman Robin Cape asserted ÇƒÓ adding that she felt the original designs Staples had submitted to be deceptive.
"They
manipulated us and manipulated our staff," Cape said. "This was
presented as letters on a wall. Itës not ÇƒÓ this is a big red Staples
sign. If theyëre talking to their lawyers, we should be talking to
ours."
However, Bellamy
said that she welcomes Staplesë plans, also stated in the letter, to
erect a "green screen" along the brick wall and to add new
pedestrian-friendly landscaping features near the sidewalk.
That sentiment was echoed by Councilman Jan Davis.
"I appreciate
that theyëre going to soften the impact of that wall," Davis said. "But
it sounds like theyëre ready to go into litigation about the sign ÇƒÓ and
that may be where this ends up."
Meanwhile, Councilman Brownie Newman said the question was one of enforcing basic standards.
"The primary
concern with the Staples store is the pedestrian orientation, which
itës required to have to get the permits it got," Newman said. "Itës
failed to meet any of those things that it needed to meet. We talk
about changing our ordinances, but our ordinances clearly state that if
the background is part of the sign, then it needs to be calculated and
the signës not in line with our existing ordinance."
Councilwoman Robin Cape echoed that sentiment.
Staples was one
of three projects addressed in the Owens Report, a third-party review
of some of the cityës more controversial zoning decisions. The report
concluded that the city needed to take steps to ameliorate the size of
Staplesë sign, its accessibility and its appearance.
The other two
projects in the report were the loading dock behind Greenlife grocery
and the two signs that Prudential Realty had. Prudential
Also at the same
meeting, council discussed a new plan to deal with Greenlifeës
situation. Working with Greenlife, city staff had developed a plan that
would involved expanding parking space to enable trucks to turn around
in the parking lot without going into Maxwell Street. Truck intrusion
into that street has been a cause of complaints from residents. Another
possible plan would spend $30,000 to prevent trucks from going onto
Maxwell Street.
However, the
city still must decide if the new plan intends to remove all trucks
from Maxwell Street, or just the large tractor trailer trucks. The plan
was returned to Newman and Councilman Bryan Freeborn, who had been
working with Greenlife on the earlier proposal.
In other action, council:
ï Approved a
plan 5-2 to instate a "Public Artist of the Year" program, with artists
submitting designs, a five-person panel judging them and a $10,000
award for the winner. Cape and Vice Mayor Holly Jones voted against the
measure, citing concerns about the details of the program.
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