Downtown State Farm sign leaves Facade Board searching for resolution

Columbus State Farm agent Jay Lewis walked out of the Uptown Facade Board meeting Monday afternoon shaking his head.

He was asking the citizen regulatory board to approve new signage for his insurance office at 1222 Broadway. He walked away with the green light for three options, none of which were what he originally sought.

The entire exchange caused one board member to joke as Lewis’ matter was resolved “he probably thought they were picking on him.”

“I walked past five or six signs that were similar to what I asked for but did not get approved,” Lewis said after the meeting.

What Lewis, who has appeared before the board multiple times, was pointing out was the inconsistencies of downtown signage.

“We want to be in keeping with what’s going on in uptown, but I walked by a number of places — Uncommon Athlete, Posh Peach and my neighbor, the new liquor store, has three signs,” Lewis said.

At issue is a city regulation that restricts a business from having two primary signs for one location. Lewis currently has a sign over the awning near the top of the single-story brick building. He was asking the board to put a second sign on the awning just below the existing sign.

Board member Doug Jefcoat, commercial manager for W.C. Bradley Co. Real Estate Division, pointed to Uptown Wine & Spirits as an example of how and why the board makes exceptions.

“I can’t argue with you about the consistency,” Jefcoat said. “But with the liquor store store the alternatives were not as attractive as what we went with.”

Jefcoat then pointed to another new downtown Business, the Kiddie Shoppe on 11th Street. That business had to make decisions on how to place a primary sign and was not allowed two.

“We are trying to be consistent,” Jefcoat said.

The compromise was proposed by board member Alan Udy, an architect with Hecht Burdeshaw Architects Inc. The board approved three options from which Lewis must select one:

▪  Eliminate the current building sign and put up a “State Farm” sign on the awning.

▪  Get rid of the “State Farm” on the awning and leave the insurance company’s three-circle logo.

▪  Eliminate the words “State Farm” and the three-circle logo from the current sign and leave the words “State Farm” on the awning.

Jefcoat told Lewis that what he was proposing “looked good, but it is not about aesthetics because it is considered a second primary sign.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2017 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Downtown State Farm sign leaves Facade Board searching for resolution."