The petitioner, Stacey Richie as agent for J. Christopher Restaurant, is requesting that the Historic District Sign Ordinance of the Savannah Zoning Ordinance be amended to permit canopy or awning signs in place of fascia or projecting signs on conforming business uses in the district.

The Historic District Sign Ordinance (Section 8-3121) provides special rules for both commercial and residential signs within the Savannah Landmark District. In particular, subsection (11)(a) restricts signage on awnings in “residential districts” to letters or symbols “not to exceed six inches” in height. In late 2016, the petitioner replaced a wall fascia sign with a similar sign on the business canopy. The wall sign was painted over.

The text amendment, as proposed, would permit conforming commercial uses in mixed use residentially zoned properties in the Historic District to choose either a fascia or projecting sign (as is currently permitted) or, alternatively, a similarly sized sign to be displayed on a canopy or awning. The amendment would afford businesses an alternative form of signage, but would not increase the signage dimensions on a business

On July 18, 2017, the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the requested text amendment to Historic District Sign Ordinance Section 8-3121(11)(a).

Approval