The Northwest Civic Association rejected a request by Tansky Toyota to relocate a monument sign to its used-car lot at 3615 W. Dublin-Granville Road.

NWCA members, in a 9-0 vote June 6, said they took exception to the request because it didn't conform to a sign overlay in the area.

The variance request calls for a 14.6-foot-tall sign, when the overlay prohibits anything over 6 feet.

The total square footage of the sign, 112, is nearly double what the code allowed.

Tansky also is seeking a 5-foot setback when the overlay calls for 6 feet.

Jeffrey L. Brown, the attorney representing the Toyota dealership, said that Tansky's expansion at 6300 Sawmill Road was environmentally sensitive -- the goal being gold certification per the standards of Lead in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, through the U.S. Green Building Council -- and moving the sign, instead of building a new one, would preserve material.

Brown also pointed out that many of the signs in the area were far taller and had more square footage than what Tansky proposed.

And the car dealership agreed to put a stone base at the bottom of the sign.

Trustee Rosemarie Lisko said that those signs were in place long before the overlay was adopted.

"All I wanted to do was put it in context," Brown responded.

The Graphics Commission staff also recommended against the project, saying there are "no topographic hindrances necessitating the reduced setback or increased height and graphic area." The staff also questioned why the top third of the sign can't be reused.

"Staff sees no reason to justify the non-conformity," according to the staff review letter.

The Graphics Commission will hear the request in July.

In other news from the meeting, residents continued to complain about three untidy properties on Bradshire Drive.

The same group, which attended the previous NWCA meeting, repeated their outstanding concerns over uncut grass, tall weeds, overflowing trash bins and other potential violations.

Code-enforcement officer Troy Hardgrow told the crowd that he began civil proceedings against one of the properties, but the others hadn't reached that level. For example, grass must be 12 inches tall to be in violation.

Hardgrow said that just because a property is unsightly doesn't necessarily mean it is violating city code.