Are business signs too big on Hilton Head? This board wants to make them smaller

Hilton Head has no billboards and scarce lighting, and residents generally like it that way. Business signs blend into the surroundings, adhering to a strict color palette and size, which can make it difficult at times to find locations.

The town’s Design Review Board, however, thinks some signs are bigger than they should be.

This came after a lengthy discussion at its Nov. 28 meeting over a future freestanding sign for Home2 Suites, an extended-stay hotel company, which would be located in a median dividing an entrance at 1 Marina Side Drive off William Hilton Parkway.

The median currently has a sign with five business advertisements. The new proposed sign would be 14 feet wide and 8 feet tall — taking up the majority of the median — and would advertise Home2 Suites by Hilton and SpringHill Suites Marriott.

The proposed sign conforms to the town’s land management ordinance — which has more than 15,000 words governing sign regulations alone — and was approved by the Design Review Board despite concerns about its size.

But the board drafted a letter, discussed at its meeting on Tuesday, requesting that the maximum allowable size of signs be reduced.

“The (Design Review Board) was concerned to learn that the LMO would permit a sign of this size,” the letter read. “The (board) believes that the signs on Hilton Head Island are becoming increasingly oversized in nature.”

Chris Darnell, urban designer for the town, said the board voted unanimously Tuesday to forward its request to the town Planning Commission. If the commission agrees, it can direct town staff to explore changing sign regulations, which would eventually need Town Council approval.

But not everyone thinks that reducing the maximum-allowed size of business signs on the island is a good idea.

Greg Ney, rental manager for The Bike Doctor, which has two island locations on Beach City Road and New Orleans Road, said existing business signs are generally too small.

“From a retail point of view, I think that would be even more of a deterrent,” Ney said Wednesday. “Signs are so small (already), if there’s signage at all.”

Ney said locals know where the bike shops are, but tourists, who he noted are main customers, often complain about how difficult it is to find the businesses because the signs are not very visible from the road.

“They like the aesthetic, but it’s very, very hard to find what they’re looking for,” he said. “People wear the heck out of their GPS.”

Ney said he always warns his customers to watch where they’re going because drivers are often distracted, “looking for a place they can’t find.”

According to the LMO, the town’s sign regulations aim to “improve pedestrian and traffic safety and eliminate physical and visual clutter by signs that compete for the attention of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”

Cynthia Cornelssen, a resident of Hilton Head Plantation, said her main concern is how “tacky” some island signs look with a collage of business names, contending that the names often are too small to be recognizable.

But she added there are signs that are too large, citing, as an example, the sign for Pirate’s Island Adventure Golf off William Hilton Parkway.

“It’s pretty obvious you can’t miss Starbucks; you can’t miss Sea Turtle (Marketplace); you can’t miss McDonald’s,” she said. “But Barnacle Bill’s — it looks like it’s ready to fall down. If it was one uniform appearance across the island, it would add to the aesthetic of the island.”

Sheryl Muenze, another Hilton Head Plantation resident, said she doesn’t notice most of the island’s signs.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “I’m for the status quo — I think there’s a lot of other things (for the Design Review Board) to spend their time on.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Are business signs too big on Hilton Head? This board wants to make them smaller."