Chances are drivers won’t miss the sign for the new toy and baby store on State Road 7 because the Royal Palm Beach Village Council unanimously approved builders Pebb Enterprise’s request to put up a sign that will be nearly double the square footage allowed by the village.
The new Toys “R” Us/Babies “R” Us store sign will be 459 square feet and part of the size issue is the trademark “R,” which added to the square footage. The village allows for 260 square feet of signage on the front of a building.
Pebb representative Jan Polson argued that the building’s planned distance of nearly 500 feet from the closest lane of State Road 7 and the addition of lush landscaping would make it difficult to see the store from the busy road.
“We have a lot of landscaping,” Polson said. “It’s very, very thick. That’s a difficulty. It could create a real traffic situation and harm someone.”
She also noted that when measured without spacing that would be used on the building, the sign was only 34 square feet more than the allowed 260 square feet.
Mayor Matty Mattioli pointed out that the company could have built two stores on the 5-acre site, which would have made signage a non-issue. Granting extra space for the sign, with individual letters mounted on the store’s front wall, isn’t much of a concession, he said.
Councilman Fred Pinto said that most of the signage along the business corridor is too small.
“All of those signs look too small,” he said. “This is a business economy issue. People need to know where you are.”
The council agreed that the renderings of the sign presented during the meeting did not show the lettering to be disproportionately large.
Vice Mayor Richard Valuntas said that because the project includes two stores in one the larger signage seemed appropriate.
In other news the council unanimously approved a site plan modification, architectural approval and special exception use for a drive through for a new Chase Bank at the former site of Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant on Okeechobee Boulevard just east of Fox Trail Road.
Pinto voiced concerns that there was a Chase Bank just down the road. But senior planner Bradford O’Brien noted that PNC Bank has three locations within the village.
