The Ponte Vedra Architectural Review Committee approved plans for a new directory ground sign for the Shoppes at Veranda commercial complex on July 23, after Veranda applicants agreed to move and alter the sign.
The initial application sought approval for a directory ground sign positioned in the parking lot median to the right of where motorists would enter the complex, on the opposite side of the centrally-located fountain.
Veranda representatives met with ARC chair Mike Koppenhafer, St. Johns County planner David Harrell and ARC advisor Jack Pope to discuss the possibility of moving the sign to the fountain island.
The purpose of the proposed move was to make it easier for motorists to view the sign from the driver’s side, as opposed to viewing it through the passenger-side window.
"There was more discussion about what you would physically see sitting in a driver’s seat looking across a passenger or out the passenger window," said Koppenhafer. "That view cone is only so big, so with this sign only six inches above the ground, you wouldn’t see the bottom."
Veranda representatives agreed and arranged for the sign to be placed in the central fountain island.
They also altered the four-column sign’s design to make viewing more functional, by moving the map from the central column to the top left column, removing the bottom eight signs from the bottom two rows.
The changes bring the bottom row up nearly two feet and angle the sign to make viewing easier for an approaching driver, Koppenhafer said during the meeting.
