Is Hilton Head at risk of becoming ‘sign mania?’ Town may get stricter on sign size
Hilton Head Island is already known for “nature-blending” store signs and limits on street lighting.
But, later this week, a town committee will decide whether the signs on the island should be even smaller and more discreet.
On Thursday, the Town of Hilton Head Island land management ordinance committee will discuss potential changes to the LMO regarding signs. There are no specifics in the meeting agenda on what dimensions will be considered.
Some drivers and business owners say it’s already too difficult to find stores on the island.
“With most of the shopping centers on Hilton Head, you can’t see them,” said Jon Wheeler, whose firm developed the Sea Turtle Marketplace on Hilton Head. “You wouldn’t even know it’s there because of the trees. You only know it’s there if you live there.”
The Sea Turtle Marketplace sign is one of the examples the design review board committee used when it asked for the town to review sign standards in 2017.
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“DRB expressed concern about the size of the Sea Turtle Marketplace Signs that were approved (in 2017) and the impact they will have on the (U.S.) 278 corridor. The DRB believes that the signs on Hilton Head Island are becoming increasingly oversized in nature, departing from historic and traditional Hilton Head ‘Island Character.’”
The board called the size of signs on the island “alarming.”
But Wheeler said the stricter rules affect business. Sea Turtle Marketplace, he said, lost a Lidl grocery store chain in the marketplace because the town was too strict on the store’s architecture standards.
“If you start to limit the size, the color of the front, the location, you’re going to start losing people more and more to Bluffton,” he said of the signs. Wheeler said Bluffton is considered by some to be “sign mania.”
Popular chains such as McDonald’s and T.J. Maxx have also been to the review board this year with applications that were turned down for their style and colors.
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On the other side of the debate, some residents and officials say Hilton Head was founded with the goal to protect its natural beauty, not further commercial development.
In the 34-page design review guide for buildings on the island, there’s not a table that outlines specific do’s and don’ts to maintain “island character.”
“If I had to boil it down to two words ... nature-blending is probably the key word,” Michael Gentemann, vice chairman of the design review board, previously told The Island Packet.
