Lexington
Council OKs Internally Lit Canopy Signs
Lexington City Council Thursday unanimously approved a proposed amendment to the zoning code to allow internally illuminated canopy signs in the city’s historic downtown and the commercial entrance corridors.
In the downtown business district, such signs would only be allowed for businesses with canopies and at least 40 feet of street frontage.
The letters would only be able to be open-faced channel letters, with or without a diffuser, and could not exceed more than 800 lumens per letter in brightness.
The letters can be up to 12 inches in height on buildings up to three stories in height with a maximum allowed area of 7.5 square feet. For buildings taller than three stories, the letters can be up to 16 inches tall and the sign can have a maximum area of 10 square feet. In either case, the sign can’t be more than 15 feet above grade level on the street frontage.
The amendment came about because of a request from the owners of The Gin Hotel to put internally illuminated letters on the canopy above the hotel’s entrance on Main Street to assist visitors with finding the hotel after dark.
The Planning Commission initially voted to deny the proposal, but City Council requested the Commission draft more detailed design standards to allow such signs. The design standards were approved by the planning commission at its Oct. 28 meeting in a 6-0 vote.
Council member David Sigler made the motion to approve the design standards and Council member Nicholas Betts provided the second. After the vote, Mayor Frank Friedman thanked the Planning Commission for its work on the design standards despite some members still having reservations about allowing this kind of sign in the historic downtown.
