Planning committee votes down proposed Wells Fargo signs
Panel recommends that City Council reject massive signs on top of former Duke Energy Center on Tryon Street
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With Truist signs in mind, an advisory panel weighs in against signs that could ignite ‘arms race’; ‘I don’t want downtown to turn into Tokyo’
An advisory panel voted down plans by Wells Fargo to install a pair of signs on top of 550 South Tryon. (Renderings from Wells Fargo’s rezoning application.)
by Tony Mecia
Citing concerns about approving a supersized sign on one of uptown’s most recognizable buildings, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission committee this week voted down Wells Fargo’s request to install two big signs on 550 South Tryon, the former Duke Energy Center.
The 5-2 vote against massive the Wells Fargo signs is merely advisory and isn’t binding. The Charlotte City Council will make the final call. City staff supported the rezoning request, saying the proposed signs would conform with city regulations.
But at a meeting Tuesday, a majority of the planning commission’s Zoning Committee criticized the proposed signs, which would be twice as big as the infamous Truist signs installed on the former Hearst Tower on North Tryon Street, which is now known as Truist Center.
The two proposed Wells Fargo signs on the “handle” top of the 48-story building would be 1,880 s.f. on each side, or roughly 80 feet by 23 feet. One commissioner said it would start “an arms race of large signs in our community.”
‘Bright as hell’: Commissioner Rebekah Whilden said the proposal reminded her of the Truist sign — and not in a good way: “When I was in between houses, I lived near the Truist sign, and that thing was bright as hell. I’m just thinking for anyone that’s living in uptown — granted, there aren’t a lot — that’s a lot of light pollution.”
City staff replied that the lettering on the Wells Fargo sign would be backlit and would emit little light.
Another commissioner wondered: “If a Spirit Halloween store moves in, could they put up a Spirit Halloween sign?” (The answer is yes.)
The vote was first reported online Wednesday by the publication Y’all Weekly.
The number of signs on buildings uptown has exploded in recent years. Because of zoning regulations, not all have required approval from the City Council. The approval of the large Truist signs in 2020 caught many in Charlotte and on the City Council off-guard. Some criticized the Truist sign as well as the building’s garish purple lights, including the building’s architect. At the time, Truist said it had received “a lot of positive feedback” about its large signs.
Committee chairman Douglas Welton, who voted against turning down the signs, said he might not like the look but that the request conforms with the regulations: “I don’t want downtown to turn into Tokyo either, but these are the rules we are playing under.”
There was no public opposition at a public hearing held this month.
A Wells Fargo spokesman declined to comment on the vote. [updated to reflect reply from Wells Fargo]
The Charlotte Ledger this month named the sign rezoning one of the “hot rezonings to watch in 2024.”
The decision would ordinarily go before the City Council in the next few weeks.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman