Residents have been waiting on pins and needles for Olive Garden to announce that it’s coming to the city. The Portage Board of Zoning Appeals moved the restaurant closer to waiting on tables.
The BZA granted a variance Monday to allow Olive Garden to use a thinner sign than normal. The restaurant is proposed for the site of the former Quaker Steak & Lube restaurant in the Ameriplex at the Port business park.
“Olive Garden signage is standardized nationwide,” said David Mikel, of South Bend-based Site Enhancement Services. The signs will look the same, but the cabinet holding the lights will be thinner. Even so, a seven-inch cabinet is still an inch thicker than Portage’s zoning would normally allow.
Including the five-inch-thick letters, the signs will be 12 inches thick, down from the normal 15 inches for Olive Garden, Mikel said.
“It’s a lot of heat, so that way we have better ventilation,” he said. The lights inside will be LED, cooler and longer lasting than fluorescent lights.
Any thinner than Mikel proposed wouldn’t allow the amount of ventilation required to meet Underwriters Laboratories standards, he said, plus this size will allow consistent lighting to make the signs easier to read.
“That way — at night — it’s easily identifiable,” so customers can safely enter the parking lot and the building, Mikel explained. “This helps customers as far as wayfinding.”
“Otherwise, we’d have to look at nonilluminated options, which would be difficult,” he said.
BZA President Denise Little asked if Mikel brought samples to show what he was talking about. No, he said, but he brought photos. The signs will be made of acrylic and aluminum.
“I thought you were asking if he brought Olive Garden samples,” Director of Planning and Community Development Tom Cherry quipped.
Not even a breadstick, alas. Portage residents will have to continue wait for those flavors.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
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