Clinton’s Design Review Board will take up a request from the House of Pizza to install a lighted sign that already was approved prior to the Aug, 27, 2024 fire that destroyed the restaurant.
HOP has re-opened, basically, next door in the former Freshens, Presbyterian College, location - the restaurant wants to install a sign on the building, but owners have said they were rebuffed 4 times in recent months by city officials, and they have said the new location just doesn't feel right without a sign of their choosing.
The sign apparently runs afoul of an internally-lighted sign prohibition in the City Code. But paperwork showing a previous approval by a City official says the LETTERS are lighted, but the sign is not lighted from within.
The City Code allows for exceptions to be made for design restrictions.
The DRB meeting will be at 6 pm THURSDAY (Aug. 21) in the PS Bailey Council Chamber of the MS Bailey Municipal Center at 211 North Broad St., Clinton. City board meetings are open to the public - there is no time listed for public comments.
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It is starting to feel personal.
That is the judgment of Narmeen Abojamoos, owner of the House of Pizza, about the City of Clinton turning down her request 4 times to place a sign on her Musgrove Street business.
Abojamoos brought her concern to the City Council during public comments time of the Aug. 4 regular monthly council meeting. She said this is the same sign that was approved for the restaurant’s former location three doors down from its current location, before the former building was destroyed by fire Aug. 27, 2024. It is a digital sign, she said, and its installation would help brighten Musgrove Street and enhance night time safety. It wasn’t clear who in the city government is blocking the sign’s installation.
Under its current form of government, the council cannot instruct that a sign be allowed or rejected; that authorization lies with the city manager. Also, public comments time is not a question-and-answer, Mayor Randy Randall said, so city staff was not called on to answer a basic question, “Why can’t House of Pizza install the sign it wants for its business?”
Apparently, this is the part of the City Code that the proposed sign violates:
Section 6-9 b.3. Signs. Signs shall not be internally lighted. Within the Historic District, permanent signage shall be limited to the identification of commercial, institutional and historic properties. Property owners are encouraged to use externally lighted ground signs and wall signs where built into the building facade. Sign size and height shall be limited as set forth in the zoning ordinance of the City of Clinton.
House of Pizza has re-opened in a building it aquired from Presbyterian College - 1 of the 3 businesses that have “bounced back” in one form or another from the massive fire destruction. Only Kingdom Builders, an African-American museum and events venue, has not announced a new or renovated location. The burned-out property now is the hands of the Clinton Economic Development Corporation.
The Musgrove Street fire started behind House of Pizza, but the City of Clinton has never announced an official fire-cause.
Now, Abojamoos says, “The same people who once approved our sign are now standing in our way. It is frustrating. It feels personal, because this is our livelihood. We are an independent restaurant, not a corporation. … I believe in the city, and I ask the city to believe in us.”
“I’m glad you are open and I hope you get your sign,” Council Member Natalie Cogsdill said later in the council members’ comments portion of the meeting.
The Chronicle received the sign ordinance potential-violation information 3 days after the council meeting, although not from an official city source. No one gave this simple explanation at the meeting, and Design Review Board minutes are not posted on-line. However, DRB meetings are livestreamed and archived by the City (they used to be on Facebook, now they are on YouTube), and this is a link to a meeting where the House of Pizza’s proposed sign was discussed about the 6:25 minute-mark BEFORE the August 27, 2024, fire that destroyed the restaurant:
https://www.facebook.com/cityofclintonsc/videos/312738158142263
The DRB can grant an exception to the standards that include the signs standard but it must meet these conditions: 1. The proposed action will maintain the overall appearance of period authenticity; and, 2. New, replacement or repaired features will be consistent with the architectural features of the structure; and, 3. The proposed action will not adversely affect other structures in the vicinity, or diminish the character of the Historic Preservation District.
Abojamoos has given The Chronicle 4 documents which show that the $13,596 sign is “face-lit” and was approved for installaion by the City on May 23, 2024 (the fire that destoyed HOP was Aug. 27, 2024).
In other business, council heard “thank you” from 2 organizations that shared in $20,000 that the City of Clinton made available in community assistance grants. Bringing reports were Clinton Canopy ($1,000) and the Go Center ($1,200). Others receiving grants were: Eastside Elementary, Safe Home, District 56 Science Olympiad, Keep Laurens County Beautiful, Piedmont Agency on Aging, The Zone, The Open Door, Cancer Association, National Veterans’ Agriculture Association, and Good Shepherd.
Council approved 2 resolutions: August as Clinton Goes Back to School Month and Connecting Cops and Communities Month.
Council approved annexation and zoning matters for a parcel on Jacobs Highway beside Dollar Tree where Self Regional Medical Center is planning a medical facility, and for The Home Store in the Lydia Mill community. Council gave its routine final approval for an every-6-months repeal of the blue laws in Clinton, allowing businesses to open on Sundays if they want to. Reports to Council included City Manager Joey Meadors bringing updates on sewer re-hab in the central business district, the Fire-Police Center renovation on North Broad Street, the fire sub-station renovation on Springdale Drive, and continuing work at the Rec Center (Hwy 56) - he said the Clinton YMCA could be staging its kids’ soccer program there this fall.
Meadors reported that the Vance Park splash pad was well-used by the community during a 40-day run of hot weather. “We really hit a home run with that thing,” he said.
Mayor Randall reported that the SC Economic Development School is coming to Presbyterian College Aug. 8 and 9, and 3rd District Congresswoman Sheri Biggs visited the City last Wednesday as Congress is on its summer recess.
