BUSINESS

More signs coming to downtown

Change sought by River Place developer

Cammie Bellamy StarNews Staff

WILMINGTON -- Downtown Wilmington’s tallest buildings will be allowed more commercial signs after council members approved an ordinance sought by River Place’s developers.

Tuesday night, Wilmington City Council voted 6-1 to amend the city’s code on sign regulations. Mayor Pro Tempore Margaret Haynes was the lone vote in opposition.

Under the changes, buildings five stories and taller in the downtown central business district (CBD) will now be allowed one wall sign per commercial tenant at the ground floor. Currently, five-story buildings in the CBD are allowed only two signs per facade: one at the ground level and one above the fourth story.

One wall sign will still be allowed above the fourth floor per façade.

East West Partners, the company developing the 13-story River Place project on Water Street, had been working with city staff for months on the ordinance. But throughout the process, some council members have raised concerns about more signs making parts of downtown into an eyesore.

“I think its overkill,” Haynes said of the changes allowed under the new ordinance. “We trust (River Place) and what you’re going to do, but this applies to everyone. And we learned about 15 or 20 years ago that once signs are up, there’s no going back. It’s very difficult to go back.”

In River Place’s case, the changes will mean signs for 10 different businesses at the ground floor, mainly along North Water Street. Under the proposed changes, each sign could be no larger than 25 square feet -- 1 square foot per linear foot of the River Place buildings.

Other changes in the new ordinance will apply to buildings beyond the CBD: the main street mixed-use (MSMU) district along Castle Street; the Riverfront mixed-use (RFMU) district around the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge; mixed-use (MX) districts, including Mayfaire and RiverLights; and urban mixed-use (UMX) districts, which run along Market Street, Dawson Street, and other areas.

Those include allowing allow every tenant in a building to have a projecting sign, in addition to a wall-mounted sign. Current rules allow just one projecting sign per building, regardless of the number of tenants. Commercial buildings in the MX district will also now be allowed up to four mounted signs per façade.

Councilman Kevin O’Grady, who had previously raised concerns about the ordinance, said he was reassured by River Place presenting a uniform sign plan -- design standards for all of the $84 million mixed-use project’s tenants’ signs.

But O’Grady noted that there’s no guarantee that the next five-story building to go up downtown will have a similar plan. He asked city staff to look into whether Wilmington can write an ordinance requiring commercial buildings to have a uniform sign plan.

“If you had everybody doing their own design, it could look chaotic, and I don’t’ think that’s what we want downtown,” he said.

River Place’s commercial tenants are scheduled to begin upfitting their storefronts in November, with openings expected in early 2020.

Haynes is one of four council members running for reelection in this November’s municipal election, along with Paul Lawler, Neil Anderson and Mayor Bill Saffo.

Reporter Cammie Bellamy can be reached at 910-343-2339 or Cammie.Bellamy@StarNewsOnline.com.