Some residents living behind the Plaza del Lago shopping center hope the Village Board will agree with them that a new Fanny May candy store at the center doesn’t need a second illuminated sign.
Not only is a sign on the building’s south side unnecessary to bring in pedestrian traffic and unlikely to draw more vehicular traffic to the store, it will lower property values for townhouse owners living on Westerfield Drive, Fred Forbes told trustees last week.
The case came before trustees for the first time May 24, but wasn’t up for discussion or action. That would take place at the board’s next meeting, President Chris Canning said. The next board meeting is June 14.
The operators of Fanny May, 1515 Sheridan Road, and the owners of Plaza del Lago have asked Wilmette to amend local sign regulations for the northeast Wilmette center, to allow a new awning and wall sign for the store. The sign is necessary to provide additional Sheridan Road visibility the business, they say.
(Fanny May occupies the southeast corner of Plaza del Lago’s newest building, built after the demolition of the former Convito Café and Market, and sign regulations that applied to the previous building didn’t transfer to the new one.)
The village’s appearance review commission reviewed the case in January and again in April, before recommending that the village board approve the change. During the appearance review process, Fanny May officials agreed to change the type of illumination they planned for the sign.
Forbes, of 819 Westerfield Drive, lives in Westerfield Place townhouse complex. He warned that amending the shopping center’s sign regulations would set a bad precedent, possibly allowing more signs to be erected facing his residential street in future.
