Sylva zoning board postpones decision on restaurant sign
By Lynn Hotaling
Sylva's zoning board ruled last Tuesday (Sept. 28) that a non-complying sign at Wal-Mart Plaza can remain until the board completes a review and possible revision of the town's sign ordinance.
Though the sign for Cheang, a Chinese restaurant that replaced Peking Imperial, is about 12 square feet larger than allowed in a B-3 district, it will remain in place until the matter is resolved.
Cheang owner Mai Phuong was represented at the hearing by attorney Jay Coward. Phuong trusted a sign company representative to ensure that her new sign met all applicable ordinances, Coward said, and she has already paid for the sign.
When Sylva zoning administrator Jim Aust notified the restaurant that the sign was out of compliance, Phuong turned the notification over to the sign company representative, Coward said, and thought the matter was settled. Aust then issued the restaurant a citation. At that point Phuong contacted Coward for legal assistance and Aust rescinded the citation and scheduled the Sept. 28 appeal.
The problem, Coward said, is that Phuong must adhere to a different set of rules than apply to adjacent businesses.
"The sign doesn't appear to be in violation. It looks like the other signs (near Wal-Mart)," Coward said. "It seems unfair that Cheang's is singled out."
The original signs at Wal-Mart Plaza, erected before Sylva's 16-month-old sign law, were grandfathered in when the zoning ordinance was enacted in May 1997. Simply granting a variance for Phuong's sign will not solve the problem, Coward said, because according to Sylva's ordinance, Phuong's sign does not qualify for a variance.
Currently a business must meet five conditions to qualify for a variance, he said, and Phuong's business cannot meet all five. Coward suggested the board consider revising the variance procedure.
"Unless the ordinance is changed, Wal-Mart will generate a continuing controversy," Coward said.
Another suggestion was to change the sign regulations for Wal-Mart Plaza in order to preserve uniformity at the shopping center.
"We want the process of getting a variance to be difficult," said zoning board member and Sylva administrator Tommy Thompson. "I think sometimes you have to make a judgment call. I would be in favor of granting a variance."
Board members granted Coward's request that action on Phuong's sign be deferred until the board reaches a decision about the advisability of amending the ordinance.
In another zoning matter, board members unanimously approved Tommy and Anna Ginns' plans for a three-unit apartment building off N.C. 107 behind the former Hensley Tire. Zoning administrator Aust recommended approval, saying that the apartment building would be an improvement at that location.
Zoning officials denied an earlier request from the Ginns' to build the apartments on Yellowbird Branch Road, which is zoned for single-family dwellings only, due to concern for adjoining property values.