COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A formal hearing in a dispute between the City of Coldwater and the Coldwater Elks Lodge over the club’s sign that was scheduled to take place Thursday in Branch County District Court did not happen, as it was announced that the two sides had come to an agreement.
Part of the agreement calls for the metal portion of the sign to be removed but the electronic sign will be allowed to stay.
The Elks will not have to pay a fine and there would be no sanctions.
The dispute centered around two variance requests covering the width and height of the sign that were turned down by the Coldwater Zoning Board of Appeals last December. The Elks were asking for a six square foot dimensional area variance as well as a height variance of just under six feet.
The Elks felt the sign added to the aesthetics of the area and their activities were not in competition with any other activity or business.
The Coldwater Historic District Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness on a 5-0 vote in October 2017 so that the Elks could install the new sign but the city’s Neighborhood Services Department had some issues with the variances and they recommended they not be granted.
They wanted the sign built to the design approved by the Historic District Commission and as submitted to Coldwater Neighborhood Services when the sign permit was issued.
City Planner Dean Walrack went into more details of the agreement in an e-mail on Thursday
- They (the Elks) will remove the metal signage from the monument.
- The top of the electronic sign is only 5′ high and they may be able to adjust it down to sit on the monument base in order to install a new sign ~12-16″ in vertical dimension so that the top of the freestanding signage is at the allowable 6′ level.
- They may also just raise the electronic portion to 6′ if they wish.
- The pillars are architectural features and may remain the same or be lowered to any height the Elks wish.
- The cutout elk head is an architectural feature which will not count against the height or area of freestanding signage.
- They may chose to install the metal signs (there are two cutout metal signs sandwiching a black panel to create that sign) on the Division and Pearl St. facades if they wish.
- All signage will include new permits (including the modifications to the freestanding sign) but no charges will be applied for those permits.
- No further charges, fees, fines, etc… will be coming from the City. The HDC has authorized staff to approve this signage administratively and there will be no more variances needed.
