Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the Town of Abingdon, Virginia Planning Commission regular meeting. We appreciate your interest and we encourage public participation in our meeting. Your comments are important to our decision-making process. Please note that there will be two opportunities during our meeting for you to address the members of the Commission. The first will come when we ask for public comment for items not on the agenda. The second will come if the chairperson opens a public hearing and asks for comment. Anyone addressing the commission will approach the podium, give your first and last names, and your complete physical address. Comments must be limited to three minutes. Roll call.

Mr. Austin? Present. Mr. Johnson? Present. Mr. Thompson?

Present.

Mr. Pennington? Present. Mr. Sproles? Present. Mr. Wilson? And Mr. Schumann?

Present. Next order of business is approval of the minutes from the May 18, 2026 regular meeting. Anybody in attendance at that meeting have any additions or corrections to the minutes? If not, is there a motion that they be approved as submitted? So moved. All right. Is there a second?

I'll second.

Okay. If you would call the roll.

Mr. Austin? Aye. Mr. Johnson? Aye. Mr. Thompson?

Aye.

Mr. Pennington? Abstain. I was not present. Mr. Sprouls?

Aye.

And Mr. Schuman?

I need to abstain. I was not present either. But that's a quorum. That's four, so the minutes are approved. Yep. The next order of business is public comments for items not on the agenda. I don't know if anybody's signed up. No. Anybody here to make a comment? If not, we'll move to the first certificate of appropriateness. Holston Mountain Artisans Applicant Jerry Sines, Inc., Representative and Platt and Platt Holdings, LLC, Owner. Certificate of appropriateness for non-illuminated projecting signage located at 280 West Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia, 24210, parentheses, parcel 011-8-21, in parentheses. Staff reports.

Holston Mountain Artisans and Jerry Signs have requested approval of a certificate of appropriateness for the following ECCOA eligible item. Install one non-illuminated double-sided 40.25 inch by 24 inch 6.708 square feet HDU sign enclosed in steel frame and hung from new steel scroll bracket mounted onto the front primary north elevation of as shown in the rendering provided. Located at 280 West Main Street, tax map number 011-8-25. The property is zoned Central Business District B3 on all sides. Access to the site is West Main Street and Piggly Wiggly Alley. According to Places in Time, Volume 2, Abingdon, Meadowview, and Gladespring, Virginia, written by Nancy C. King, the brick building historically known as the H.H. Scott Building was constructed in 1914. The building, commonly known today as Woolfill Center, is occupied by Holston Mountain Artisans, Dot and Hop Studio, and Apartments. There is an existing Holston Mountain Artisans wall sign on the portion of the building fronting West Main Street. There is also a wall sign, canopy sign, and portable sign located at the rear of the building BASING RIMSBURG DRIVE. BUSINESSES IN THE B3 DISTRICT ARE ALLOWED ONE PROJECTING SIGN PER BUSINESS PER STREET FRONTAGE. HOLSTON MOUNTAIN ARTISANS DOES NOT CURRENTLY HAVE A PROJECTING SIGN AND IS ALLOWED TO HAVE A PROJECTING SIGN THAT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS LISTED IN SECTION 8-4-5E. THE PROPOSED PROJECTING SIGN IS UNDER THE REQUIRED 12 SQUARE FREET. The proposed sign will not extend more than six feet beyond the face of the building and is within two feet of the inside curb line. The proposed projecting sign will be installed in a manner that allows the clearance from grade to the bottom of the sign to be a minimum of eight feet in height. All requirements of the sign ordinance are met.

Are there questions for Amber? Is the applicant present?

not appear to be.

They were having some, they reached out and let me know they had some family issues, some pipes were breaking in the house. They were really sorry that they couldn't be here. They tried really hard.

But you're telling us that it meets the ordinance?

It does. Okay.

And Amber, that includes all of the signs right at the entrance doors?

Yes, so they have already received approval, the wall sign, the window signage, and then additional to the signage that it was in the back approved a couple months ago. So they are within their requirement of how many signs they're allowed to have per business. They don't currently have one on that tenant panel where it says Woolfield Center. As far as I know, they're not going to have one, but you could see that get in the future. Okay. Thank you.

Yep. Any additional questions? If not, what is the pleasure of the commission? Is there a motion?

I'll make a motion that we approve the COA as presented.

All right. Is there a second? I'll second. Okay. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the roll.

Mr. Austin? Aye. Mr. Johnson? Aye. Mr. Johnson?

Aye.

Mr. Pennington?

Aye.

Mr. Sprouls? Aye. And Mr. Schumann? Aye.

All right, next order, business certificate of appropriateness, Charles Bridwell, CPA, and associates applicant, Jerry Sons, Inc., representative, and Farmlands, Inc., owner, certificate of appropriateness for non-illuminated freestanding signage located at 436 West Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia, 24210, parentheses, parcel 011-8-25, in parentheses. Staff report.

Charles Birdwell, CPA and Associates, and Jerry Sign have requested approval for the following COA-eligible items. Remove existing freestanding sign structure. Install one double-side non-illuminated 46 inches wide by 32 inches tall, 10.22 square feet HDU carved freestanding sign mounted onto two 3 inch by 3 inch still painted black posts for a total height of 72 inches or 6 feet and located 36 inches or 3 feet from right away as shown in the rendering provided. According to the Washington County Land Card, the building was constructed circa 1930. The building was previously occupied by Anderson Auctioneers and Countryside Realty, but is now occupied by Charles Broadwell CPA and Associates. Access to the site will continue to be West Main Street. Adjoining properties are zoned Central Business District B3 to the northeast and west, and M1 Limited Industrial to the south. The applicant proposes the HDU carved freestanding sign 10.22 square feet onto the two still painted black posts as shown in the rendering provided. The total height of the sign is six feet. The setback from the right-of-way must be half the height of the sign. The proposed sign must be located three feet from the edge of the concrete curb of the sidewalk as shown in the rendering provided. There's also a small wall sign under two square feet. It's most likely under one square feet. A typical process would be to include the square footage in the overall sign permit request, and it would also count as a wall sign. So again, they're going to remove the existing freestanding signs, replace it with what is there in the rendering. And this is also Jerry's signs, so they're not here. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer it.

So you say they are going to remove that white pipe and all the former signs. That's all going to be gone? Absolutely, yes.

They wanted to put it back in that same location, but it was about two feet from the edge of the curb line, so they're relocating it, creating a new hole, so that it is actually three feet per the requirement.

Questions for Amber? Amber? If not, is there a motion regarding this COA?

I'll make a motion. We approve it as submitted.

All right. Is there a second? Second. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the roll.

Mr. Austin? Aye. Mr. Johnson? Aye. Mr. Thompson? Aye. Mr. Pennington? Aye. Mr. Sproles?

Aye.

And Mr. Schumann?

Aye. Next order of business, certificate of appropriateness, state-line wealth advisors applicant and state-line wealth properties LLC owner, certificate of appropriateness for exterior roof changes located at 410 West Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia, 24210, parentheses, parcel 019-1-23, in parentheses. Staffer.

THE STATELINE WEALTH ADVISORS APPLICANT AND STATELINE WEALTH PROPERTIES LLC OWNER HAVE REQUESTED APPROVAL OF A COA FOR THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. CONVERT EXISTING FLAT ROOF TO A PITCHED FRONT GABLE ROOF WITH BLACK SHADOW ASPHALT CHINGLES AND A FRONT ACCENT OF VINYL SHAKE SIDING IN A DEEP GRANITE COLOR WITH NEW HALF ROUND GUTTERS PAINTED BLACK PER THE DESIGN OF THE ATTACHED IMAGES. EXISTING BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED CIRCA 1959 ACCORDING TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY LAND CARD PROPERTY CONTAINS ONE BUSINESS STATELINE WEALTH ADVISERS ACCESS TO THE SITE WILL CONTINUE TO BE WEST MAIN STREET ADJOINING PROPERTIES ARE ZONED CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT B3 TO THE NORTHEAST AND WEST AND LIMITED INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT M1 TO THE SOUTH Per the design review guidelines, exterior alterations for roof forms shall be single gable, cross gable, gambrel, hip parapet, or flat forms. The existing flat roof is proposed to be converted into a single front gable roof and is in keeping with the design guidelines. The proposed roof material will contain asphalt shingles and meets the design guidelines. The proposed siding material of vinyl shake should be modified to brick if planning commission deems the vinyl shake not appropriate. However, there is vinyl siding used in the buildings adjacent. Facade colors shall be low reflectance white, earth tone, muted, subtle, or neutral colors. Trim may feature brighter accents. The proposed colors are from a neutral color palette and meet the requirements of the ordinance.

Questions for Amber? Is the applicant present? Have anything you want to add? I don't have anything, no. Okay. Any questions for the applicant? If not, what is the pleasure of the commission?

I'll make a motion we approve the application as presented.

Okay. Is there a second? I'll second. All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the roll.

Mr. Austin? Aye. Mr. Johnson? Aye. Mr. Thompson?

Aye.

Mr. Pennington? Aye. Mr. Sprouls? Aye. And Mr. Schumann? Aye.

Next order of business, certificate of appropriateness, James Proff, applicant representative, and William King, regional arts center owner, certificate of appropriateness for non-illuminated freestanding signage located At or near 459 Russell Road centered on coordinates 36.7110 and 81.9879 and parcel 0018-1-20B1 centered on coordinates 36.7073 and 81.9852, staff report.

James Propp, applicant representative, could not be present, but we can call him if you guys have any questions directly for him. Ms. Betsy is present for questions as well. The William King Regional Arts Center owner has requested approval of a COA for the following items. Install two double-sided, non-illuminated, freestanding signs, one located on parcel 0018-1-20B1. That's the one there at the bottom. and a portion of the right-of-way on the north end of Academy Drive, the one there at the top, and the approximate location of existing freestanding signs. The parcel contains approximately 0.41 acres and is legally described as part of boundary adjustment of the William King Arts tax map number 018-1-20B1. and is located adjacent to 445 West Main Street and Academy Drive. The parcel is owned by the Town of Abingdon, and the sign will be centered on 36.7073-81.9852, an approximate location of an existing freestanding sign. The other sign will be in a portion of the right-of-way on the north end of Academy Drive, owned by the town of Abingdon, located at or near 459 Russell Road, centered on coordinates 36.7110 and negative 81.9879 in the approximate location of existing freestanding signs. Background, the William King Regional Arts Center, a Virginia non-stock company, needs an easement for the replacement of two existing signs located on town-owned property requiring a public hearing before the members of town council. The public hearing is to receive comments from the public regarding the proposed easement and is scheduled for Monday, July 6, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. here in the council chambers. Access to the site will continue to be Academy Drive via West Main Street and Russell Road. joining properties adjacent to the parcel or zone central business district B3 to the east, south, and west, and office and institutional districts to the north, joining properties adjacent to the right-of-way or zoned institutional district OI to the east and south, and R3 high-density residential district to the west, and B2 general business district to the north. The applicant proposes installing two double-sided, non-illuminated, 33.5 inches wide by 168 inches tall or 2.79 feet by 14 feet, which is 39 square feet, 5.5 inch thick fabricated M2 metal freestanding signs onto 1 inch deep reveal painted to match 8 inch monument base as shown in the rendering provided. The proposed freestanding signs will have a 0.25 inch thick by 30.5 inch thick square logo with painted finish at the top of the sign with a 0.25 inch thick black spacer insert 2 inches from the edges above a 0.5 inch thick by 5 inch tall metal letters with painted finish and a 0.25 inch tall by 19 inches wide by 0.5 inches thick metal bar with painted finish above a 0.5 inch thick by 3.5 inch tall metal letters with painted finish. Proposed freestanding signs will have a 33.5 inch wide by 54 inches tall digital print with UV ink designed for exterior use, fully adhered to the substrate with smooth, wrinkle-free application at the bottom of the sign just above the mount. Each business is allowed one freestanding sign per street frontage. The parcel in which William King Museum of Art is located does not front either Russell Road or West Main Street. However, Academy Drive connects Russell Road and to West Main Street. The proposed sign on West Main Street will be located eight feet from the sidewalk on Academy Drive and eight feet from the sidewalk bordering West Main Street in the same location as the existing freestanding sign. The proposed sign on Russell Road will be located 8 feet from Academy Drive and 13 feet from the right-of-way on Russell Road in the same location as the existing freestanding sign. Freestanding signs located within the entrance corridor can be a maximum area of 60 square feet and no taller than 15 feet from grade. Both signs are 14 feet in height, including the monument base, with a maximum area of 39 square feet. All signs must be set back from the right-of-way at least half the height of the signs. Both signs require a minimum setback of seven feet, and both signs have enough clearance. Public Works has reviewed the provided plans and has undergone a site visit to measure the site distance. There appears to be plenty of room around the stop signs at both locations, and the site distance is deemed adequate. There are no issues with the proposed placement of the new signage, and nothing should need to be relocated based on measurements. Any questions for me?

In essence, what they're doing is replacing the signs they have with two new signs, and those signs meet the ordinance. Would that be a way of making that simple?

Yes, absolutely.

Thank you. Additional questions from?

All of the footers, everything, the footers are going to remain, or are they digging up the footers? I mean, you've got details in here.

Right.

That might have been a question for Mr. James Propp. It's the same type of base, though. They're going to.

Yeah. Betsy, do you mind coming up?

I believe it's a new base.

Mr.. Prop sent me a message that the Jerry signs is going to install the sign and provide the footing Betsy if you could give us your name and sorry I'm sorry Betsy white 133 East Main Street.

Thank you. I Was just curious Relative to the base is all well apparently there would be different footings new footings aren't And Rick has looked at that foundational

component, the building official.

As far as wind loads?

That's right, yeah. All that kind of stuff. What it would take and everything. He's kind of looking at it in conjunction with us looking at the sign itself.

Does that answer your question?

Additional questions for either Amber or Ms. Weigel? If not, is there a motion from the Commission?

I'll make a motion. We approve the COA as submitted.

All right. Is there a second? I'll second. All right. Any additional discussion? If not, if you would call the roll.

Mr. Austin? Aye. Mr. Johnson? Aye. Mr. Thompson?

Aye.

Mr. Pennington? Aye. Mr. Sprouls? Aye. And Mr. Schumann? Aye.

All right. Old business matters not on the agenda. The one thing that I've noticed, when we approved signage for the Mexican store that sells food across from Kaiser's, they were supposed to remove the awning that the Patriots of Abingdon, and that's not been done. That awning is still there, and that was... contingency of our approval of the COA.

Okay. And we'll double-check that one. And then building off of that, I know building off that other kind of follow-up, I know we sent an email all to you about the Kaiser furniture just because we brought up that one. That was all in keeping with what the Commission approved previously. So it'll probably be coming down sometime in September. So it's kind of that April to September kind of time frame is when they have it up. and everything wasn't keeping from what we saw in the approvals for that.

Any other whole business matters on the agenda from anybody?

Again, planning commission meeting scheduled for July 20th. We have not received anything that is possibly tentative for that one. We plan on going to the, me and Amber, we plan on going to the APA annual conference, which is in Danville. At first I didn't understand the... the motto, they said high stakes, and I realized it was at their casino there, so I was like, oh, that's why it makes sense now. So we'll be going there, we'll hopefully be bringing back a lot of information to bring back to you guys and everything. One thing that we would like to bring up, we've had some inquiries about signage in the entrance corridor. If it does meet the ordinance standards, I think, We brought this up before me and Maiana did when Maiana was here. And I was just starting out in a sense that if it would be possible or if it was at the Commission's pleasure, if a sign is proposed in the entrance corridor, is it okay for it to be staff approved just to help with timeline for new businesses that want to open up? Because sometimes when they open up, they may miss the deadline and then they have to wait a month sometimes.

In my memory, there was a time that that was actually the case, that the staff could deal with signage like that without having it come before the commission.

I know it's happened both ways, so that's why I know. When I came on, it was the opposite way. But we've had some outreach from businesses and other individuals that said, you know, is there any way that, you know, if we're meeting the ordinance, which is whatever it's, whether it's projecting a freestanding, whatever it may be, could it be staff approved? They still need to do a sign permit, obviously, and everything, but they just wouldn't have to fill out the COA application. Just wondering what your opinions are on for that at the moment. I personally don't have a problem with that.

I would be very much in favor of it. I was sitting here thinking about that earlier. We're almost the sign commission instead of the planning commission with as many as come before us.

Yeah, and I know when I first came on, I know it was on the opposite side of things, but I think that we've seen that everybody's meeting, everybody's taking care to make sure before they propose something that it's meeting the ordinance. So maybe in the past there were some disagreements, now we're not having much, so we think it would be an optimal change for businesses in Abingdon and for the commission to facilitate that more business-friendly approach with all of our boards and commissions do. If the signs meet the ordinance, then they would go to staff. But obviously, if they go for a comprehensive plan, they would come to you all. That's where they can maybe get a little bit more wall signs, a little bit more freestanding signage in those cases.

So we do that in the form of a motion, do you think?

We can write that up for you. since there's going to be some things we just have to change in our end in terms of the text for it, and then we can bring it to you for a motion.

Let's do that.

Yeah, we just wanted to get your opinion here, and then we make it a formal motion by you all so we have it in writing so this way in the future somebody can go back to that meeting and go, oh, this is where they made that motion to give staff that opportunity.

I think that's appropriate.

Did you have something? Well, I mean, the only thing I would say is if you're doing that, is it necessary to make it a matter of record, per se, to say this month we approved this sign or something along those lines? Does it need to be presented to say, hey, this is what we approved?

Just at staff level. We can definitely put it in your packets if you want, so you can just know. What's there, kind of how we do for the HBRB with waivers, if that's what, if you still want to be in the know, but we can just say we include it in their packets because it's in the entrance corridor, but it's all staff approved, that's perfectly fine if you want that to happen.

I think that would be good.

Yeah.

Yes. And eliminate some questions that we might have, just if we see something going up.

Yeah. Correct. Yeah, and that's probably fine. We can definitely accommodate for that. it's not an issue I mean one of the things that we don't want to do is all of a sudden put you guys on the spot and on something that we should take responsibility yeah and we can and like I said if somebody still comes for a comprehensive sign they would still have to come in to you all to get that approved because that's the opportunity for a development or a redevelopment to get possibly bigger or more signage in terms of that But like I've said, we've seen now, since I've been here for four and a half years, a little bit more now, I know time flies, is that we've seen that signs are in compliance. People are trying to make sure, even if they have a multi-tenant space, they're trying to make sure that everybody kind of matches up to a certain degree. So we just need to make sure everything on our end, in terms of the ordinance tax, which should only be a slight change. will be easy enough. We just wanted to get your opinion on it first, and then with that kind of information, and like I said, we don't have anything for July yet, so that's kind of a perfect time for us to get it in, get it for August, and we'll be all set. But yeah, we just want to get your opinion before we did anything without you guys kind of directing us to do it.

I think just look at what the text would be, and then we'll Yeah, and it should just be a simple one.

I don't think we need a workshop for this one since it's just a minor change. It's not like we're rewriting something.

Anything else that needs to come before the commission?

I know the other thing on here is copyright of the plan updates. We're just looking for a vendor for that one, but we're working on that, and then that will be the next big one thing up. Okay. Other than that, it's a busy time. A lot of things going up. A lot of things happening. And then I sent individually you all the mural of what the because you guys all approved the concept, but you had the colors. Nobody had any complaints, so we'll move forward with that. To Mr. Johnson's email, you asked about if you would assume the awning was going to go up. That is our assumption, too. I know they're working out what kind of materials and everything, how it's going to be attached. So we're even still waiting on Mr. Stasser, the billing official is waiting on engineer drawings to know how it would be attached and everything. So if it's anything new in terms of the awning, then it would come before you all. If it's not, then it would just be kind of a waiver like that canopy was. Other than that, that's all I have.

Anything else? If not, is there a motion All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.