John Scarffe, Black Hawk.  Lodge Casino requested a Certificate of Appropriateness for an amended Comprehensive Sign Plan during a regular meeting of the Black Hawk City Council at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8, 2018, at 211 Church Street. The Council also negotiated with Canyon Casino regarding changes in parking lot plans, which included the possible addition of a huge Black Hawk sign.

Vince Harris with Baseline Corporation introduced the motion to approve with conditions a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for the Comprehensive Sign Plan Amendment for the Lodge Casino. The City of Black Hawk received an application request on May 29, 2018, for a COA from Angela Renfro of BSC Signs on behalf of the Lodge Casino, according to the request for Council action.

The request outlines a proposed amendment to a previously approved COA for the Comprehensive Sign Plan for the Lodge Casino located at 240 Main Street in Black Hawk. The previous COA was passed on July 23, 2014.

The application proposes to remove one existing sign and replace three other existing signs. The changes will promote the brand change to the Lodge logo and will replace a failing LED board with a new board, according to the request.

The current plan included 535.46 square feet of sign area. The recent submittal proposes 621.1 square feet, which is a net increase of 85.68 square feet, or a 16 percent increase. The property is allowed 1,781.60 square feet of sign area.

Harris told the Council this is an update to a sign plan approved in 2014. Lodge Casino is changing two signs. The digital sign is getting larger, and the sign above the door is getting smaller. The changes are consistent with design guidelines, and staff recommends approval.

Angela Renfro showed the Council color samples, and said the Casino is updating to a new look. Some of the boards are starting to fail, so they are updating and going with painted aluminum with a white halo on the letters.
The Municipal Code permits a total allowable square footage of signage to be calculated at one square foot per linear foot of building frontage, according to the staff report. The Lodge Casino property abuts public right-of-way on three sides: Main Street to the south, Highway 119 to the north and Richman Street to the east.

In total, the building façade on the subject property abuts 1,048 linear feet of public right-of-way. According to sign regulations, properties with approved comprehensive sign plans and electronic messaging centers are allowed up to 170 percent of the permitted sign area, permitting the Lodge Casino up to 1,781.6 square feet of total sign area.

One existing blade sign will continue to exist, according to the report. This blade sign does not project into the public right-of-way and does not require a license agreement.

This CSP Amendment proposes 621.1 square feet of sign area, which is well within the allowed area of 1,781.6 square feet. “Overall, Baseline suggests that the application and proposed modifications to the Lodge Casino Comprehensive Sign Plan complies with the intent and character of the Design Standards and for continued development of a successful business in the City of Black Hawk,” states the report.

The Council approved the COA. Harris then introduced the Canyon Parking Lot request for a Certificate of Appropriateness (CofA), Site Development Plan (SDP), and Subdivision Improvements Agreement (SIA) for the construction of a parking lot and associated improvements. The hearing was continued from the July 25 Council meeting.

City Attorney Corey Hoffmann told the Council they did continue this on July 25 to evaluate options for a finish and the new sign. “We will continue this today and bring it back one more time.”

Staff is working with the applicant to provide an SIA to the City Council in a form acceptable to staff to be able to make a recommendation to the City Council. Staff and the applicant are working on exhibits to be included in the SIA, according to the request for Council action.

The City of Black Hawk has received an amended application from Dakota/Canyon, LLC/Jacobs Entertainment, LLC, concerning its property located at 131 Main Street for a proposed parking lot. This amended application follows the January 24, 2018, approval for the construction of a three-floor parking garage and associated improvements on the same property.

On July 25, 2018, the City Council did not take any action except to continue this public hearing since the previously proposed excavated wall treatment with wire mesh from the bottom of the new cut to the top of the existing cut, about 125 feet high, seemed not acceptable to City Council.

The overall amendment application concerns the deletion of the previously approved three-level parking garage from the proposed development and now proposes to instead construct a surface parking lot. This new amendment and now resubmitted application continues to propose demolition of existing walls, major excavation, rock walls, landscaping and public improvements including a sidewalk along Main Street and street improvements as well as a new, very large, sign displaying the name of the City along with the City logo.

The applicant has now provided two alternative large sign variations each with different lighting techniques and size of the letters. This revised application is for a COA for excavation of the land under the existing parking lot, hillside and features on the site; an SDP for the construction of the new parking lot, retaining walls, landscaping and grading, and now large signage. The applicant has a contractor on the site and excavation has already started with a permit from the City to do so.

The applicant has two alternatives proposed for the private improvements. Staff and the applicant are still working to complete the SIA agreement as well as the cost estimates to go along with each alternative, according to the staff report.

Option A includes a proposed Black Hawk sign with 25-foot tall letters illuminated with flood lights mounted on top of parking lot poles. All existing galvanized wire mesh will remain on the upper portion of the rock wall with new excavation to also add new galvanized wire mesh.

Harris said the 25-foot-tall sign with the city logo would be up lit with lights in the parking lot. On the back side, they do not propose any sculpted concrete.

Option B includes a proposed Black Hawk sign with 20-foot tall letters illuminated with an internal light source. All existing galvanized wire mesh will remain on the upper portion of the rock wall and with new excavation to have new galvanized wire mesh.

Harris said the sign will be internally lit but would not have lights shining up. They would do sculpted concrete at the edge of the Dakota site but not on the edge of the wedge that connects the lower wall to the upper wall. At night it will have a grayish look.

Staff went through appropriate solutions in order not to have the entire wall in sculpted concrete. Ultimately, there will be a 25-foot-sign and then sculpted concrete on the lower portion of the wall and the edge of the wedge. The back would be relatively untouched with mesh added to existing mesh. Pick the appropriate color, galvanized or silver, Harris said.

Staff also presented an option. “As you are aware the City Council, at its July 25, 2018 Council Meeting, responded to the concept of suggesting that a very large lettered Black Hawk sign was now being considered in lieu of the applicant’s original proposed wire mesh covered wall at about 125 feet in height. The staff recommendation, in the staff report to the City Council presented on July 25, 2018, was to have the entire 125-foot-tall excavated wall finished in a colored and sculpted concrete finish,” according to the report.

The finish was envisioned to match the sculpted concrete wall finish recently completed on the neighboring Dakota site and parking lot, now close to completion. The applicant did not support the staff recommendation, and in lieu of such a finish, the applicant is now requesting that this revised application with either of the proposed signs be approved as a potential alternative to colored and sculpted concrete, staff wrote.

The newly amended project proposes to not have the previously approved three-level parking garage from the development plan, and, as an alternative, to have only a surface parking lot. The newly proposed parking lot will contain 207 parking spaces.

The previously approved SDP planned for a parking garage with 302 parking spaces and a surface lot, associated with the garage construction, with 97 parking spaces. The total proposed parking spaces under the previously approved development plan was 399 spaces. The new SDP proposes a reduction of 192 parking spaces from the previously approved SDP.

The amended proposal continues access to the new parking lot from the east, through the adjacent Dakota parking lot access drive. The amended grading plan adjusts the previously approved grading so that vehicles can traverse through the Canyon parking lot when either entering or exiting from the Dakota parking lot, according to the report.

The planned access is designed in the same location as previously approved. In addition to the parking facilities, the applicant also proposes to provide landscaping, public street and infrastructure improvements.

Construction of the amended project will require excavation of the site surface and portions of the hillside between Bobtail Street and Main Street. According to submitted documentation, about 47,000 cubic yards of material will be excavated from the site.

This is compared to the previously approved garage excavation requiring about 81,100 cubic yards of excavated material. The amended parking lot will contain about 76,000 square feet of paved parking surface.

This equates to about 48 percent of the lot. Harris said that sculpted concrete will be used on the left, which is the existing cut about half way, and the retaining wall comes out, so the parking lot will be at street level.
Applicant Dave Gruenwald, Hudson Ohio, said he is more confused about the back wall than he was two weeks ago. “We dealt with the sign, and some people like it and some don’t,” he said.

He proposed two different sizes for the sign and is willing to add the sculpted concrete. “Let’s go ahead and spend $200,000. Internal lighting is expensive.” Gruenwald said. “The staff recommendation has the disk, and I can’t tell you whether it’s feasible to do it because the diameter would be 50 feet. This proposal is just too expensive.”

The objective is to help with something that’s needed help for a long time, just not all at once. “I can’t accept their recommendation,” Gruenwald said. He is willing to talk about Shotcrete along the wedge and mesh on top of the sign. One of the problems with the sign is it’s a technological challenge.

Mayor David Spellman said that at the last meeting Gruenwald stated that he could put sculpted concrete on the whole back for $1 million, and we thought it was a $4 million cost and wanted to make sure we’d have enough security to finish it if we need to step in.

Gruenwald said installation will be weather sensitive, and they can’t do it until the spring and will have to take the parking lot apart. “I’m asking that you not make me go that far.”

Alderman Hal Midcap asked if he can do the sculpted concrete for $200,000, and the rest of the wall for $1 million, so $1.5 million total. “What happens if you left the wedge out? It’s almost perpendicular to the highway, so you won’t see it.”

Gruenwald said he wants to make the wall complete. He can Shotcrete along the new part of the wall with mesh on top for about $1 million.

After seeing photographs of the proposed huge Black Hawk sign, Council agreed they did not like the proposed sign, so Spellman said that leaves you with sculpted concrete. Gruenwald said that what he is proposing is $1 million.

Spellman asked Council if it was important enough if Canyon paid for it now, and the City rebated back to them for the $300,000 through device fees. Hoffmann said the City has an existing program in its code for sharing sales tax. Do it with sales tax instead of device fees, and then you share in their success?

“We would figure out a base, and everything over that base we would share back over a period of time. We will have to artificially create a base, but it can be done,” Hoffmann said. There are a lot of sales tax generators with the Lodge.

The Council approved a motion to continue the public hearing to August 22.

(Originally published in the August 23, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)