CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA PACKET

Page 3 of 4 Canopy Signage As noted, there was not majority support among the City Council either for approval of the canopy signage as installed, or for requiring revision and redesign of that element of the SDR. Councilmembers with concerns about the signage cited provisions of General Plan Policies 15 and 16, and Program 15.3, which calls for the City to encourage signs that are designed with higher quality materials, use attractive colors, and minimize franchise colors and branding. Staff noted that the General Plan and Sign Ordinance do not include quantified standards for the amount of branded signage that is permissible to include, meaning that a decision about appropriateness of a sign design is to some degree subjective, with the Zoning Administrator’s approval of the sign being based on various factors including location, all elements of the sign proposal, comparison to the previously installed signage when a business is undergoing re- branding, nature of nearby gas station signage, among other factors. It is noted that there are examples throughout Pleasanton of signs with both more and fewer branded elements than the Gulf Gas station. Accordingly, staff continues to support the Zoning Administrator’s prior determination, and as was the case at the May 6, 2025, meeting, to support approval of the canopy signage and overall SDR, based on the project-specific analysis previously provided. The improvements to the revised monument signage, which reduces the amount of branded signage, further support this recommendation. However, it is ultimately up to a majority of the City Council to determine if the signage is appropriate as proposed, and the City Council could decide to deny the application, or specify additional design changes or amendments to the canopy signage. For reference, images of the canopy signage (day and evening) as proposed and installed, are included in Attachment 5. Finally, going forward, and recognizing the somewhat unique circumstance of this application, staff would emphasize that this decision should not be considered to set a precedent. Applications will continue to be reviewed in light of the full range of site- and project-specific conditions and circumstances, some of which are outlined above,particularly with respect to evaluation of conformance to the above-referenced General Plan policies. As proposed and conditioned, the Zoning Administrator found the proposed SDR is in keeping with other similar gas station signage design concepts throughout the City, would be Page 18 of 399