Generations Church, located on Executive Park Road, is appealing a decision that allows it just one sign under the town’s Unified Development Ordinance.
Generations Church, located on Executive Park Road, is appealing a decision that allows it just one sign under the town’s Unified Development Ordinance.
St. James Town Council held an administrative hearing on July 6 for a permit appeal by Generations Church regarding the addition of a second sign on the church’s building.
Under the current Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) in St. James, Generations Church, located on Executive Park Road, is permitted to have one sign on the outside of its building. The town already approved the “Generations Church” sign on the south side of the building, but denied a permit application to add a second one on the west side heading into Southport off N.C. Highway 211.
“They’re allowed to have one,” Town Manager Jeff Repp said. “The UDO does not allow them to have two in that fashion. That’s how the UDO explains how signs go. They chose to refile on the one sign and file again for the second sign, of which they were denied.”
Repp said that led to the hearing.
Robert Dudley, a representative from Generations Church, tried to make the case that a second sign would give incoming visitors more time to see the building from N.C. 211 to slow down to make the left turn onto Executive Park Road. Generations Church welcomes thousands of first-time guests over the course of a year, Dudley said, and providing clear signage will increase visibility and safety.
“The south side sign out front is very visible,” said Dudley. “The west facing side, we believe, is pretty critical to us. The intersection at 211 and Executive Park Road can be pretty dangerous, and not just for Sunday services, but other days as well. We believe that approaching from the west side going east toward Southport, you have a very small window in how fast you can get into the left turning lane into Executive Park. We think, from a safety perspective, people who see the sign on the west face of the building have a better opportunity to safely turn into the parking lot.”
Councilman David DeLong asked for a site plan of the church in an effort to determine how the building will look from the road once the N.C. 211 expansion project is completed.
“I’m looking for positioning,” DeLong said. “I just want to take a look at the safety aspect of it, and make sure we’re not creating other safety issues.”
Once the highway expansion is finished, DeLong said motorists exiting Executive Park Road won’t be allowed to turn left anymore and will need to go right and make a U-turn. Dudley stated that an already clogged intersection wasn’t expected to get better, but that the signage request is to make it safer for people traveling east into Southport.
“That’s one of the reasons I want to see how this will all lay out,” said DeLong. “There are safety things we need to consider.”
Repp provided council members with four exhibits to consider related to the permit denial. The town council also serves as the planning board and has the ability to change the current UDO and allow the second sign.
Repp said the council will have to conduct a “finding of the fact and order of law,” due to the matter being quasi-judicial in nature. Council is expected to discuss the appeal during its July 21 work session. If it grants the appeal, Repp said a document will be created that could be approved at the board’s August monthly meeting.
Dudley said that if the appeal proves successful, Generations Church could put a second sign up pretty quickly. The expansion, he said, will add about 225 auditorium seating, offices, additional meeting spaces, and a two-story foyer and lobby. The church, which has served the Southport, St. James and Oak Island area since 2005, moved to its current location in Oct. 2019 and Dudley said a re-grand opening is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 14.
