Businessman Jim Gilliam will be able to keep up the new sign he built for his downtown building. Records show he has spent at least $400,000 renovating the site.
The Orange Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday approved a plan to allow signs on to be up to 10 feet tall in the Old Town Center. The regulations currently restrict a sign to being no taller than three feet in the area. Gilliam’s sign was taller.
The change will now have to be approved by the City Council before becoming official. Four of the six council members attended the commission meeting.
Gilliam owns Bates and Company. He is moving his company downtown to 707 W. Front Street. The building permits show the improvements to the building worth at least $400,000. The building is across the street from the Lutcher Theater
A stucco sign base to match the new exterior of the building has been installed on the property line. However, the sign is about four feet tall.
Planning Director Kelvin Knauf said the rules in the Old Town Center allow buildings to be constructed on the property line, so it does not make sense to restrict the size of a sign. He said a one-story building would be about 10 feet tall and he suggested that as the limit. The rules apply only in the small designated area of downtown.
The Old Town Center is between Green Avenue south to Division Avenue and from Eighth Street east to Second Street.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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