Oliver's Candies hopes to ease rules for electronic signs

Changing times demand changing signs, says Jeremy Liles, owner of Oliver’s Candies.

City code doesn’t agree — at least not for now.

And so the Genesee County Planning Board on Thursday recommended disapproval of a permit that would allow “periodical change” of the digital reader board on Oliver’s Candies’ new electronic sign.

The city Planning and Development Committee is scheduled to review the permit request on Tuesday.

Oliver’s Candies replaced its longtime free-standing sign, at 211 W. Main St., with the digital version earlier this year.

City planners approved a permit for the new sign in December 2014. The permit was granted with the condition that the sign not contain “flashing, intermittent, rotating or moving lights.”

On Thursday, Liles said it makes good business sense to lift those conditions, at least a little bit.

“I could play full video on (my sign), but I’m not looking to do that — I don’t even want to change it every four seconds,” he told the Planning Board. “I was actually hoping for once an hour; that would be my ultimate goal.”

The lettering on a non-digital sign could be manually changed once an hour, with no legal ramifications, he said. “The only difference is this one is lit.”

In recommending disapproval, county Planning Department staff noted that the city and most municipalities prohibit periodically changing LED displays because they can distract drivers. Staff conceded electronic signs are becoming more popular, but the city has been consistent in not allowing signs that change more than once every 24 hours.

The county vote to disapprove means a majority-plus-one vote would be required for the city committee to approve the sign variance.

County Planning Director Felipe Oltramari told Liles his best course of action would be to persuade City Council to change city law.

“I guess what I’m looking to do is update the world a little bit,” Liles said. “If not the world, then the city of Batavia.”

In other business, the county Planning Board recommended:

— disapproval of a site plan and area variance for construction of a Dollar General store on the east side of Allegheny Road (Route 77), Pembroke.

Planning staff said the variances — including a 9,100-square-foot building, nearly twice the minimum allowed — “grossly exceed” the requirements of town zoning law.

The store would also be built on a half-acre parcel subdivided from farmland. That land is in active agriculture and enrolled in county Agriculture District No. 1. That would prohibit connections to existing water and sewer service.

The property was reenrolled in the Ag District this past January. A portion of the land cannot be removed by subdivision, according to Oltramari, who administers the Ag District program.

“Once you sign up for an Ag District, you’re in it for eight years,” Oltramari said. “And all the land that gets subdivided out of it, stays in for eight years.

“It doesn’t prevent them from building the building,” he added. “It just prevents them from hooking up sewer in water.”

Lowell Dewey, project engineer for C&S Co., of Buffalo, said Dollar General has enough space to accommodate a well and septic system. Adding those would require a site plan change.

— disapproval of an area variance allowing a sign for an insurance office at 10724 Alexander Road, Alexander. James Wright hopes to install a 33-square-foot sign; the maximum allowed is 6 square feet.

— approval of the subdivision of a multi-family residential parcel at 180 Pearl St., Batavia, into two parcels each with a two-family residence.

— approval, with modifications, of zoning text amendments to add review criteria for solar energy systems in the Town of Batavia. The required modification is that the town add mitigation provisions for solar-energy systems built on agricultural land. “Of particular concern are construction and restoration techniques, including maintenance and restoration of drainage patterns and improvements, stockpiling of topsoil, and soil decompaction after decommissioning of the project,” planning staff said.

— approval of a site plan allowing T-Mobile to exchange six panel antennas and add a new battery cabinet to a telecommunications tower at 5101 Broadway Road (Route 20), Bethany.

— approval of an area variance to subdivide a single-family home at 1711 Genesee St. (Route 33), Pembroke, from its rear acreage and accessory buildings.

— approval, with modifications, of a site plan to operate an electrician’s office and warehouse at 614 Main Road (Route 5), Stafford. The required modification is that landscaping buffers and fencing property be maintained or improved.

The property is being purchased by Art Nicometo, who plans to use it for storage and as an administrative office. No retail will be conducted.