Gilad Edelman Photo
All that stood between the aspiring developers of a Jordan’s Furniture megastore and the City Plan Commission’s approval was a 60-foot-tall, bright purple letter “J.”
At its regular meeting in City Hall Wednesday night, the commission considered the proposal for zoning relief to allow Jordan’s to move into the New Haven Register building at 40 Sargent Dr.
A City Plan staff report recommended allowing the Jordan’s plan, with one exception: the proposed “J.” That was a potential sticking point.
According to Thomas Talbot, deputy director of zoning, variances to allow extra retail signage should be granted only when it is necessary to assure visibility to potential customers — as is the case with the roughly 5,000 square feet of other extra signage for Jordan’s, visible from I‑95, that the report recommended allowing. The giant “J,” on the other hand, would be painted on the back of the building, visible only from the parking lot.
The developers conceded Wednesday that the “J” is not strictly necessary, but argued that it would be part of the Jordan’s experience.
“It’s a big, important letter as far as we’re concerned,” said project engineer John Mancini. “Getting people to understand that this is a retail experience, not the New Haven Register building.”
The commission didn’t feel as strongly about the principle of the law as Talbot did. “What’s an extra ‘J?’” commission vice chair Roy Smith, Jr. (pictured at the top of the story) asked rhetorically.
Talbot held firm. “This is a variance,” he replied. Signage variances, he said, are for visibility concerns, not for “design features.”
“Could you live without the ‘J?’” Smith asked Mancini.
The letter was in peril. Mancini hemmed and hawed for a moment before being saved.
“I’m fine with letting them keep the ‘J,’” interjected alternate Commissioner Kevin DiAdamo. Smith quickly agreed, and the commission amended the recommendation to allow the sign.
The other main objection raised by Talbot, a special exception to allow 600 parking spaces instead of the 1,450 required by city ordinance, was less controversial. In fact, Talbot observed that the formula the city uses to determine parking requirements seems designed to discourage large-scale retailers like Jordan’s. The other big retailers in town, like IKEA, have all gotten similar special exceptions, he said.
In the end, the commission voted to accept the recommendation, amended to allow the “J,” and sent the proposal back to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which is expected approve it at its meeting next month. Once Jordan’s takes over the building, the Register plans to move its news operations downtown.
Click here and here to see how Jordan’s uses a “light show” to display a huge J in Niatick, Mass.
If the big 'J', and at 60 feet tall, it is really big, can be seen only from the rear parking lot and the "Seamless" office building in the rear, maybe OK, but if it dominates the view from the City Point neighborhood, the residents should be involved.
This deal reminds me of the nearby formerly distinctive and interesting "Armstrong Tire' building, now turned into just a lousy oversized billboard for the furniture store, a big mistake by the Administration in my opinion\
\Formerly rather special architecturally this section as viewed from I95, we, I fear, are allowing it to be become too circus-like
The zoning folk should consider their responsibilities more seriously I say