Sign of the times: Rural King seeks signage at Fort Henry Mall

KINGSPORT — Rural King and sign variances were the topics of discussion at Thursday's Kingsport Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.Denise Hensley, a representative of Snyder Signs, attended the meeting to request a 278.43 square foot variance to allow for the necessary signage at the forthcoming Rural King in Kingsport. As written, the city code states that a business covering 30,000 square feet or more is allowed a "maximum wall sign area" of 300 square feet."[Snyder Signs] has been hired as a subcontractor to do the install for the signage for Rural King," Hensley said. "They're going into where the JC Penney was in the mall area, and their signage does somewhat exceed what the code allows. So I'm here on their behalf and hope to get a variance for that excessive square footage."In the initial Board of Zoning Appeals application submitted on Jan. 22, a Rural King representative writes that having "signage on both elevations will identify the space for not only customers but also emergency responders/vehicles."Within the application, the representative described the signs as "necessary" to identify Rural King from two different angles or elevations — which JC Penney also had.The board discussed what would be considered part of the signage — if the painted background color of red would be included or not. The board reviewed a memo showing several different ways the sign area could be calculated.Plans presented in the agenda packet show one of the sign's letters would be adhered to an existing part of the building above the main building with the background painted red. If the red background was included in the sign, it would increase the sign variance to 1,463 square feet."It all depends on whether or not we want to consider this in the context of number three, which is the way it's been submitted, because they are individual letters attached to the wall," said Ken Weems, planning manager for Kingsport. "Or if the red background, which is going to be painted on, there's going to be a red paint behind this sign … I think both of them are fairly valid. I just want the board to come to a consensus on which one is most appropriate."Weems also mentioned that the board has "no control or direction" over how Rural King chooses to paint the building since it is not in an overlay district."At the same time, they can make the argument, 'Well, we're just painting the building and we happen to be putting the letters up there,'" Weem said. "They haven't said that, but that is in essence what they're doing. They're painting the building however they want."The board then motioned to approve the signage with the original 278.43 square foot variance, meaning they did not consider the red background as part of the sign.Further discussionJessica McMurray, development coordinator for the city, said the board would "probably" have another Rural King hearing at next month's meeting to discuss changes to their outdoor display.Weems said Rural King is looking to expand its nursery area from what was previously approved by the board. At the December meeting, Rural King requested a special exception for the store's outdoor display area which would be in the mall parking lot.Rural King's outdoor seasonal display area for the Kingsport store was planned to be over 25,000 square feet, according to architectural plans attached in the December meeting's agenda packet.Some of the outdoor displays included a nursery area, tractors, trailers and feeders. The two nurseries, originally planned to take up 4,554 square feet, would encompass the largest portion of the display.Steven Bower, the city's economic development director, said at the January Kingsport Economic Development Board meeting that he believes Rural King is planning for a late March ribbon cutting for the new store.The next Kingsport Board of Zoning Appeals meeting is scheduled for noon on March 6 inside the Montgomery-Watterson Boardroom on the third floor of City Hall.