A prospective fast food chain’s appeal to the Buda City Council for larger signage was met with stiff resistance Tuesday.
As a result, city leaders opted to send a proposal for a 35-foot stand-alone sign for a new Panda Express restaurant, which is planning to expand to Buda, back to the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) commission for a final decision.
Assistant City Manager Chance Sparks said the item was on the agenda as an appeal by Panda Express to an earlier decision made by P&Z to deny its original request.
Jennifer Ronneburger, of Atlas Sign Industries, and Jamie Green with Panda Restaurant Group, said P&Z denied the restaurant’s application based on its request for a 50-foot stand alone sign. Current Buda ordinance allows for a maximum signage height of 12 feet.
The company countered with an appeal to council, which asked them to grant a variance for a 35-foot stand alone sign.
Council members Bobby Lane and George Haehn were in favor of sending the agenda item back to P&Z with a request for a variance for the amended sign request.
However, council member Eileen Altmiller and mayor Todd Ruge drew a hard line in the sand.
“It’s your job to sell signs and it’s our job to make sure our town looks good,” Altmiller said.
Council members ultimately decided P&Z should determine the restaurant’s fate.
Ruge said he felt “painted into a corner,” since a denial to the restaurant’s appeal for a signage variance would mean a delay in opening the new restaurant.
Ruge made a motion to send the item back to P&Z with a caveat of maintaining the proposed 35-foot height request.
Ronneburger said the request would be acceptable for the company to sign papers purchasing the land the restaurant plans to occupy.
“We have done very well with businesses that follow our rules,” Ruge said.
The Planning and Zoning Committee meets next week when they could decide on granting the variance.
