Sign enhancement request under review

By Alex Bridges -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — An expansion of Winchester Medical Center moved forward this week, but the hospital's request for bigger signs may not fare as well.

The City Council's planning and development committee voted Wednesday to forward to City Council and endorse an ordinance on second reading to conditionally rezone nearly 9 acres on Linden Drive and Amherst Street from residential use to the medical center district.

The rezoning request includes a proffer of up to $75,000 for road improvements at the hospital campus entrance.

Winchester Medical Center plans to use the property in the rezoning to build a new parking deck, according to city Planning Director Tim Youmans.

Another proffer seeks to remove the boundaries of the Linden Drive properties and bring the land into the current campus site, a move that planner Will Moore called "instrumental" in the hospital's expansion. By doing so, curb and gutter would have to be installed along Linden Drive at the hospital's expense, he explained. That's unrelated to a proffer to have a traffic impact analysis done on Linden Drive, the results of which could trigger more road improvements.

A medical-based community continues to grow in the area of Amherst Street, Linden Drive and the hospital, Youmans told the panel. The expansion could allow some people to enter the hospital by way of Linden Drive, and not have to use Amherst Street, he said.

While no one on the panel voiced opposition to the expansion, members later expressed concern about a request from the hospital to allow it to install larger directional signs on its campus.

The hospital sought to amend the city zoning ordinance pertaining to signs in the corridor enhancement and medical center districts. Regulations restrict signs to 6 feet in height on Amherst Street and the Pleasant Valley Road/Cork Street corridors, and 10 feet in the Cedar Creek Grade corridor. Freestanding signs also cannot exceed 25 square feet.

The proposed amendment adds an exception to allow signs directing traffic to medical facilities to be a maximum 20 feet tall in the Amherst Street corridor. Freestanding signs could be no greater than 72 square feet in the area under the proposal.

Councilman Evan Clark compared the proposed sign dimensions to those of McDonald's restaurants.

"With the ... blue 'H' signs through the city and through the county to the hospital and the existing signs ... I've never heard of anybody not being able to find the hospital," Clark said.

Councilman Stewart Masters said he had no problem with the proposal but questioned the hospital's need for larger signs.

Planning officials have said the hospital's expansion of its campus likely will add destinations, thus creating a need for more space on the signs.

But Councilwoman and panel Chairwoman Carolyn Griffin supported allowing for larger signs, noting the current rules make them harder to read.

"Going to the hospital and trying to find the emergency room is a daunting task," said Councilman Richard Helm.

The request to allow larger signs was sent on to the full council.

*Contact Alex Bridges at abridges@nvdaily.com