City Hall modifies Love Doctor’s sign request

By JANE MCCLURE

Despite modifications to and approval of a sign variance request, The Love Doctor isn’t feeling the love at City Hall. The St. Paul Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) will vote December 10 on a modified sign variance for the adult novelty business at 1607 University Av. The BZA gave preliminary approval November 26 to a projecting sign, on a 4-1 vote.

Troy DeCorsey, owner of The Love Doctor, said the modified sign variance might be too small to meet the store’s need to be more visible. He sought a projecting sign of 25 square feet; the BZA approved a variance for a sign of 20.5 square feet.

“I appreciate the effort but I probably will have to file an appeal with the City Council,” he said after the BZA vote. DeCorsey will check with his sign contractor to see what the sign as approved would look like.

The Love Doctor has lost 58 percent of its business during construction of the Central Corridor light rail line, DeCorsey said. The store has lost on-street parking as a result of rail construction. Eastbound University Avenue motorists can only see the business thanks to a rooftop sign. Otherwise, the Snelling station blocks the storefront from view.

“Light rail has definitely done damage to our business,” he said.

The sign request is also part of an effort to change the store’s image and reflect how the business has evolved since it opened eight years ago, said DeCorsey. The original sign over the door, which describes The Love Doctor as an adult superstore, would be removed. “We’re not an adult bookstore. We’ve become more of a boutique for women,” he said. He has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to improve and change the store. “I’m just trying to clean it up and make it look nice.”

The proposed sign would state: “The Love Doctor your Prescription for passion.”

On University between Snelling Avenue and Fry Street, about half a dozen businesses already have projecting signs. Those signs, all of which are now nonconforming uses, block the view of The Love Doctor. DeCorsey said the sign he would be allowed to have is too small.

No one appeared at the BZA hearing to speak against the variance. The Hamline-Midway Coalition sent a letter in opposition. Coalition Executive Director Michael Jon Olson said that in the district council’s view, The Love Doctor hasn’t demonstrated any particular hardship or other circumstances that would necessitate a sign larger than sign regulations allow.

“The hardship claims made by the applicant all pertain to the LRT line and related street construction,” said Olson. “If this variance request were to be approved, it would establish a problematic precedence for the entire (Central Corridor.) Any future requests for larger signs, projecting further over the public sidewalk than permitted by code could not reasonably be denied by the city.”

“The Hamline-Midway Coalition has a problem with anything we do with the store,” DeCorsey said.

City zoning staff recommended denial of the variances, saying the variances requested aren’t consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan, and that there are no unusual or mitigating circumstances that warrant variances. City sign regulations limit the size of projecting signs to 16 square feet in a traditional neighborhoods zoning district, which is where the Love Doctor is located. Signs can project no more than three feet over the sidewalk. The request is for a 25 square foot sign, which projects four feet over the sidewalk. That’s a sign variance of nine square feet and a projection variance of one foot.

The business is allowed to have 75 square feet of signage, said Zoning Specialist Yaya Diatta. The property currently has 162 square feet of signage, of which 87 square feet is legally nonconforming. The existing 67 square foot sign above the store’s front door would be removed and replaced with the smaller projecting sign.

One issue BZA members raised is that the windows of The Love Doctor are covered with advertising posters. That is no longer allowed by the city, because of concerns about sign clutter and visibility inside a store from the street. But city staff said that isn’t germane to the issue of the projecting sign. DeCorsey noted that the store windows are already blocked by shelving. The current window signs went up before the ordinance was changed and are considered legally nonconforming.

BZA Member Vincent Courtney said it isn’t fair that The Love Doctor lost its right to have a projecting sign due to the zoning change, when adjacent businesses have them. He also noted that neighboring business owners signed a petition in support of DeCorsey’s request.

Having the sign taken down over the door and replaced with a smaller projecting sign will result in a net reduction in signage, Courtney added.

Had the business retained its previous commercial zoning, the sign as requested would be allowed. But the zoning was changed in 2011 from commercial to traditional neighborhoods use as part of a Central Corridor zoning study that affected the entire length of university Avenue. Traditional neighborhoods zoning is more restrictive of signage than commercial zoning is.

“He (DeCorsey) lost his right to have a bigger sign,” Courtney said.

The BZA vote was Courtney, Daniel Ward, Gladys Morton and Buzz Wilson in support, and Gloria Bogen in opposition. Bogen asked if DeCorsey would consider taking down his rooftop sign. But DeCorsey said he wouldn’t as the decision to do that belongs to the property owner.