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City, Normans talk building completion
by John Morris EAST TAWAS - City officials expressed a willingness to compromise, but not completely, in an effort to find common ground with Norman Corporation in an effort to work out a deal for the business to complete its long-unfinished building exterior.
In a special meeting Friday, the East Tawas City Council agreed to about half of the framework items Norman’s proposes to finish the building. The Norman’s building exterior has been unfinished for about a decade.
Just four persons in the audience attended the meeting.
The city’s special meeting comes in response to a March 2 letter from Timothy Sullivan, Norman’s director of development. The letter was written to Ron Leslie, East Tawas City manager, Sullivan said, “in hopes that a final resolution can be reached, without attorneys involved, that would conclude our sign project and finish the building exterior.”
In the letter, Sullivan said the business is prepared to complete the sign installation and the building facade as follows:
The three canopy sign faces as the business applied for at the Zoning Board of Appeals and as approved by Circuit Court Judge J. Richard Ernst, would be erected “as soon as we can, within a reasonable amount of time. At the same time, we would complete the building exterior. The city would issue a permit for this work as presented.”
The canopy sign faces, including the north or parking lot side, can only be installed subsequent to the construction of bollards on the north side. Sullivan said the bollards are key and must be placed prior to the sign being erected to avoid damage to the sign face and the building side frame. He said the business would install and maintain the bollards.
Upon completion of the sign faces, Norman’s would remove the placard signs which are on the exterior walls. However, he said the business would retain the historical and existing Norman’s signs on the vertical canopy columns and rolling racks.
Weather conditions will affect the pace of the work, especially with regard to cleanup of the canopy openings and preparations needed to complete the exterior.
The existing soffit lighting will be maintained.
“We present this with no admission, but out of concern for our objective to complete the structure,” Sullivan said. “We do not wish to entertain any modification to the above, as the standards describe above are the exclusive path to completion.”
City officials at the special meeting took the issues one at a time.
Weather conditions will affect the pace of the work, especially with regard to cleanup of the canopy openings and preparations needed to complete the exterior.
The existing soffit lighting will be maintained.
“We present this with no admission, but out of concern for our objective to complete the structure,” Sullivan said. “We do not wish to entertain any modification to the above, as the standards describe above are the exclusive path to completion.”
City officials at the special meeting took the issues one at a time.
Concerning the bollards, the city council agreed that the 14 bollards requested by the business can be placed on city property, on about 60 square feet - a parcel three-foot by 20-foot - to protect the signs from trucks backing into them. Members of the city council said they’d rather not see steel posts erected and rather would like to business to consider decorative bollards.
There also was some discussion as to the city landscaping a portion of its parking lot behind the building similar to what it did behind Dairy Queen, next to Norman’s.
Additionally, city officials agreed that the exterior walls of the building would need to completed as was proposed in the original approved site plan for the building, minus the signage issue.
As for the soffit lighting, Leslie said the company has agreed it would shield the lights and the business would use a small “N” logo for Norman’s on the shield. City officials expressed no concerns regarding use of the small logo.
As for the placard signs, the city had one answer “no.”
“If we can’t resolve it (finishing the building), that’s an issue we need to look at harder,” Councilman Tim Freel stated. “In my opinion, they need to come down. It’s signage.”
As for a reasonable time to complete the building, city officials declined to give a deadline, and rather, they said the two sides need to sit down and agree.
But officials stressed Friday, no work can begin on the building until the signage issue is resolved. “All of this is contingent to them getting approval of the signage,” Mayor Bruce Bolen said.
City officials said that course of action is for the business to reappear before the planning commission in order to meet the city’s signage requirements for the square footage allowed by the zoning ordinance or request a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“I’d like to see the building done, too,” Bolen said. “But it isn’t so easy. We have laws and ordinances.”
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