Culver’s gets an exception after accidental OK of electronic sign, but city plans to continue prohibition

By MATT BLOIS

The electronic sign outside of the Culver’s in Spring Hill displayed a simple message on Tuesday afternoon.

It announced that the flavor of the day for its frozen custard was Chocolate Heath Crunch. Franchise owner Russell Glass said that message has made a big difference.

“I have a lot of first-time guests coming in,” he said. “What we’re getting is a lot of people who see the flavor of the day and say I want the flavor of the day.”

For about a year and a half the sign stayed dark because Spring Hill doesn’t allow businesses to use electronic message boards. But last month, the city granted the restaurant an exception because of a mistake during the permitting process.

When Glass submitted plans for the restaurant it included the electronic message board near the edge of Highway 31. He said he should have known that those signs weren’t allowed under city code, but it slipped through the cracks.

The city didn’t catch the mistake either. Spring Hill approved plans for the building with the electronic sign even though it wasn’t allowed. Nobody noticed the conflict until Glass was about to open his restaurant.

“Near the time we were opening we got a phone call, or somebody stopped by, and said You can’t have that sign on,” he said. “I was in the middle of opening a restaurant … so I couldn’t fight that battle at the moment.”

He said the blank sign confused customers because it made the restaurant look like it was closed. The Culver’s corporation was also asking Glass why he wouldn’t turn the sign on to promote the flavor of the day.

Since the city signed off on the plans, it wasn’t totally clear who Glass needed to talk with to resolve the situation. Earlier this year he went back to the city to find out what to do.

He brought his request to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, but it turned out it didn’t have the authority to grant an exception. The board sent him back to the Board of Zoning appeals, which eventually granted his request.

The city put some restrictions on how he could use the sign to make sure it wasn’t obnoxious. They didn’t want it to be too bright or flashy.

“I think there were people on the (Board of Zoning Appeals) that are traditionally against this type of sign that were still for me in the circumstances,” Glass said. “I was very grateful for that … that they could just be concerned about us as a business.”

He got approval to turn on the sign on April 17, but it took him a few days to remember how to operate it. He had to call the signage company to retrain him on it.

It’s too early to say exactly how much the sign will increase his business, but he said he’s already seeing some positive signals. Several customers have mentioned the sign.

Spring Hill is currently writing a new set of rules called the Unified Development Code, which would govern how and where developers can build in the city. During that process, the Planning Commission has discussed the issue of electronic message boards several times.

Glass came to public meetings to tell his story, and make a case for electronic message boards. He says they don’t need to be flashy and distracting. He thinks that with proper controls they can look just as good as physical signs.

“I don’t want them to be obnoxious or flashy or overly bright. I don’t think they should change rapidly all day every day,” he said. “I for the most part have a static sign. It remains the same. It looks clean and it looks good.”

He argued that the signs can help promote businesses. He worried not only about his own restaurant, but also other local businesses that don’t get much exposure.

On Monday, the Planning Commission decided to continue the prohibition on electronic message boards in the Unified Development Code. The commissioners worried that the signs would create visual clutter and safety problems.

Planning Commission Chairman said that he drove around the area to look at some examples of these signs. On his way back from Columbia he got into an accident while searching for message boards.

“I’m not blaming it on that, but it happened as I was thinking about these and looking for them, trying to figure out if it makes sense,” he said.

Spring Hill seemed to take a more sympathetic view in Glass’s case because the city should have caught the mistake in the original plans. But going forward the rules won’t allow more signs like that.

At Culver’s, though, drivers won’t have to guess where to find Chocolate Heath Crunch custard.