Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik is encouraging the City’s Sign Code Advisory and Appeals Board to “lighten up and see the broader picture of what we’re trying to both avoid, and achieve with our sign regulations.” The request comes as a result of a denial of a variance for St. Mary’s Hospital’s recent renovations including a cross on the front of their building.
According to Kozachik, the hospital’s “redo of their entryway,” was challenged by the sign code board because one feature of the entryway “is the cross that is situated on the face of the façade you see as you approach. The cross is designed as an architectural feature that extends 7’ above the roof and is not considered an integrated architectural element because the tip of the cross extends above the roof line.”
The sign code board denied the request for a variance because they couldn’t see it as an “element.” According to Kozachik, “the result was that the hospital had to spend well into the thousands of dollars appealing to the M&C for a final judgment on whether or not they could have a cross extend 7’ above the roof line.
The City Council approved the variance.
Kozachik wrote in his weekly newsletter, “When we force people through that sort of expensive fire drill to get approval for something like this, there’s something wrong with how we’re operating. I’m glad the hospital got its approval. It’s a total drag that we made it so difficult and costly.”
Tucson has earned a reputation for being extremely unfriendly to business.