By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – A video board not to exceed 860 square feet for the Resch Expo is among the signage recommended for the village board to approve at its March 24 meeting.
Ashwaubenon’s Site Plan Review Committee and the Plan Commission both recommended Tuesday, March 3, to approve an amended Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the Resch Expo signage.
Community Development Director Aaron Schuette said the village board last May approved an overall PUD with parameters for the expo center site with future amendments required as details became available, such as for landscaping and signage.
Schuette said the amended PUD for signage includes:
• One two-sided monument sign not to exceed 4 feet in height or 40 square feet per side, not including the concrete base, at the corner of Oneida Street and Armed Forces Drive.
• One wall sign not to exceed 200 square feet on the north (Lombardi Avenue) elevation.
• Two wall signs not to exceed a total of 185 square feet on the west (Oneida Street) elevation.
• Two wall signs not to exceed a total of 210 square feet on the south (Armed Forces Drive) elevation.
• One media mesh not to exceed 825 square feet located on the west (Oneida Street) frontage and utilizing electronics to depict messages of upcoming shows, events, etc.
• One electronic message center (EMC) with a video board not to exceed 860 square feet located on the south (Armed Forces Drive) frontage.
Schuette said the EMC will be used for rolling static messages of upcoming shows, events, etc., during non-event times or when there is no programming for the plaza area and also for video purposes during ticketed events (up to one hour before and after the event) or when there is outdoor programming on the plaza with authorization through a special event permit issued by Ashwaubenon Public Safety.
In exchange for use of the EMC, he said PMI, which manages the property, will no longer use a large banner hanging in the Resch Center windows to advertising events.
Village Manager Allison Swanson said the EMC area, to be located where the Resch Expo connects with the Resch Center on the south side, will be designed similar to the outside of Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
“It’s kind of meant to be that type of attraction,” she said. “There’s a lot of open space… You could bring food trucks into this area or something like that. There’s other areas down farther where you could set up tables and chairs and tents and stuff like that.”
Swanson said the viewing of video would be limited with the public safety department being authorized to request the video to be turned off, such as when officers respond to an incident in the vicinity or if necessary for traffic or safety purposes.
Trustee Gary Paul asked why an 860-square-foot video board would be allowed there when the village earlier this year wouldn’t allow a 672-square-foot LED sign for a six-story office building to be constructed at the east end of Marina Circle.
“We’ve just been through this with an office complex within the community wanting to put large LED signs on the building,” he said. “How is that going to affect us – meaning the village – versus them as a building that wants these as a board to advertise their tenants? How do we explain that?”
Village President Mary Kardoskee said the office building is being constructed next to a residential area with the Manseau Flats apartments, which isn’t the case for the Resch Expo.
“I don’t care if it’s in the backroom of your house, it’s still playing video,” Paul said. “The location isn’t bothering me. It does say you can’t have video on your ordinance here, and this is playing video.”
Schuette said playing video with the EMC would be limited as outlined in the PUD amendment, which also regulates the brightness at night.
The Resch Expo, which is scheduled to be completed by next January, is being built with more than 120,000 square feet of usable space.
Construction has been underway since last summer where the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena, Shopko Hall and former Packers Hall of Fame were demolished at the southeast corner of Lombardi and Oneida.
The Resch Expo has a total budget of $93 million with funds to pay for it coming from the Lambeau Field stadium tax refund, naming rights paid for by former KI CEO Dick Resch, the half-percent Brown County sales tax and the bulk of the funds coming from room tax dollars.
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