It does not appear Christian Mills will have to paint over all the large, colorful signs and murals on his Legacy Center building based on comments made at last week’s Oxford Township Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting.
But he hasn’t secured a variance yet.
The ZBA voted 5-0 to postpone making a decision until Mills submits information stemming from discussion that took place at the meeting. The issue is expected to return to the ZBA on Monday, Sept. 12.
Basically, ZBA officials want a more complete picture of the location, size and number of signs that Mills plans to paint on the exterior of his 208,000-square-foot building, located at 925 N. Lapeer Rd., in order to accommodate future tenants.
“I hate to table you, but I’m suggesting that,” said ZBA Chairman James Butler. “I think this board’s in favor of (granting a variance), but we want to know quantitatively what it’s going to be.”
For example, it was repeatedly pointed out the soon-to-open Splash! swim school is planning to have some sort of specific signage painted on the building, yet nothing about it was included in the information packet Mills submitted to the ZBA as part of his variance request.
The packet only listed the 25 existing wall signs – a mixture of graphics, logos and words – painted on the east, south and west sides of the Legacy Center, a multi-tenant recreation center and community hub that Mills opened last year. The current signage covers 6,936 square feet of the building.

In addition to Splash!, Mills himself pointed out he has two more spaces on the building’s east side that are probably going to require signage once they are occupied by tenants.
Butler advised Mills to “take a deep breath” and “a long look” at what he’s going to need in terms of additional signage and return to the ZBA with his “best guess.”
“I think, generally, this board is in favor of this project,” said Butler, but “we’re going to have to live with this for a very long time and not make this a code enforcement issue (for the township) and (a situation where) you have to come back and forth to us.”
ZBA Member Kallie Roesner-Meyers directed Mills to provide the board with building elevations showing exactly where existing signs/murals are and where future ones would be located.
“I really want to see elevations,” she said.
Mills had to go before the ZBA board because all of his signs and murals (which are legally considered signs, as well) are in violation of the township zoning ordinance section covering wall signs.
Prior to having them painted, Mills never applied for or received approval from the township through the sign permit review process.
As a result, he was notified of his violation verbally in December 2015 and again, in writing, on June 2.
ZBA officials admonished Mills for doing everything without a permit.
“I don’t like that,” said ZBA Member Sue Bellairs. “That wasn’t done properly, but it’s done.”
“The fact that it was done without a permit, that’s somewhat troublesome,” Butler said. “But we’ll get past that I’m sure, somehow, some way.”
According to township Planner Brian Oppmann, of the Ann Arbor-based Carlisle/Wortman Associates, the Legacy Center signage violates the ordinance in terms of the square-footage and the number of them.
Based on the ordinance and his calculations, Oppmann wrote, in an Aug. 3 memo to the ZBA, the size of Legacy’s signs exceeds “the maximum permitted per tenant, which is capped at 150 square feet.”
In the information Mills submitted to the ZBA, it was stated he would need a variance of 3,186 square feet for his 6,936 square feet of signage.
Oppmann also pointed out the Legacy Center has “multiple wall signs per tenant” in some cases and that is “not permitted without a variance.”
For example, The Den Training Academy has a word-based sign, but there are also giant murals depicting athletes playing lacrosse, football and baseball, all sports associated with that business.
Oppmann noted the images of sports players constitute signage as they identify services offered in the building. “The graphics have been tested in previous court cases and the courts have established them as advertising,” he wrote.
In his memo, Oppmann explained if the ZBA granted a variance, it would be based on the information Mills submitted as it pertains to existing signage. “Any additional signage would require an additional variance above what the ZBA originally grants, if they choose to approve the request,” he wrote.
Mills’ variance request wasn’t just limited to sign sizes. He’s also asking that his signage be considered “changeable copy.”
“I think it’s fair to say that 90 percent of the copy on the building would remain the same,” he told the ZBA.
However, he indicated as new tenants come in, he would “probably erase some current copy” to provide signage for them. Mills also indicated he’s “probably” going to replace the mural depicting a woman in a yoga position with signage for an existing tenant, Soothe Your Soul.
In both instances, Mills said he’s not seeking additional sign space, just the ability to alter what’s there. “That’s why we asked for changeable copy,” he noted.
During his presentation to the ZBA, Mills explained why the Legacy Center can’t have traditional forms of signage such as monument, canopy, awning and rooftop. Those reasons ranged from right-of-way restrictions imposed by the Michigan Department of Transportation to safety and weather-related concerns to the “excessive and unreasonable” burden of putting up signs representing each and every tenant in the building.
“We do not have a conforming option (available under the ordinance),” Mills said.
Mills argued Legacy’s painted signs are also necessary due to the unique nature of the building and its purpose.
“I don’t think there’s another commercial property quite like it,” he said. “Everyone tries to fit it into a box, but it really doesn’t belong in a box.”
Mills stressed how important it is to the survival of businesses inside the Legacy Center that these signs and murals stay for advertising purposes.
“You know as well as we do that if people don’t know what you’re doing, they’re not going to come,” he said.
Mills noted if the Legacy Center were to fail, it would have an “enormous negative impact” on surrounding properties and the community. “To not approve our request (for a variance) today would create great hardship for us and the businesses who’ve invested their life savings in trying to develop within the center,” he told the board.
Community support for the Legacy Center’s murals and signs appears to be abundant.
An online petition at www.change.org supporting them has garnered 1,936 signatures as of Aug. 23.
On top of that, numerous people who spoke at the ZBA meeting praised both the signs and the Legacy Center itself.
“I’m in full support of the Legacy Center,” said Oxford resident Karen Keller. “It certainly is a real asset to the community.”
As for the signage, Keller said, “I think it’s very appealing. It’s attractive.”
She believes the Legacy Center is “going to put Oxford on the map.”
Brian Prather, who lives in the village, said Mills took a “gigantic cinder block” wall facing M-24 and turned it into something that looks “artful” and “tasteful,” and gives a cohesive spirit to the building.
Prather noted his wife, son and himself are all in support of keeping the signs and murals. “We think they’re a very wonderful way to cover what could otherwise be quite an ugly building,” he said.
Oxford resident Pat Robertson, who worked in the Legacy Center building many years ago when it was the Sea Ray boat plant, said before all the work Mills put into it, the facility was a “big, empty, ugly building.”
“And now, it’s beautiful,” she said. “I love the murals.”
“It’s a place for families and thank God we’ve got it,” Robertson added.
Legacy Center tenants Rick Norris, owner of The Den Training Academy, and Beth Sumner, owner of the Great Lakes Kids Energy Zone, both urged ZBA officials to let the signs and murals stay.
“I (would) just hate to see it be painted over,” Norris said. “They put so much time and thought (into making) it look good.”
Sumner explained the signs and murals attract people and garner interest in what’s going on inside the building. She said they’ve helped create a “spirit” of community and a feeling of safety, and it would be a “shame” and a “tragedy” if that was lost.
Cindy Wheeler, a village resident, told the ZBA that Legacy’s murals and signs “really represent what Oxford is becoming,” which is a place that’s “fun,” that’s “family-friendly” and “vibrant.”
Wheeler noted all the businesses inside the Legacy Center are community-based and taking away the existing signage would negatively impact them.
“These businesses are what make our community special,” she said.
Speaking as a resident, Jack Curtis, who serves on both the township board and planning commission, said, “I do not believe that (these) murals, the signage that’s up there is detrimental to our community. I think it’s a great benefit.”
Legacy’s signage also received compliments from ZBA members.
“The murals, I think, really add to the building,” Butler said. “The murals don’t bother me.”
Bellairs called them “a good thing.”
Some concern was expressed by ZBA officials that if Legacy is allowed to keep its existing signs and murals, it might set a precedent where other businesses demand the same type and size signs and maybe erect or paint them without a permit, then seek variances for them.
But Bellairs pointed out that “doesn’t really matter” to the ZBA “because each case (it handles) is unique and stands on its own.” She said the ZBA is there to enforce the rules, but it also exists to make exceptions for reasonable requests.
“You can’t fit everything into some little box,” Bellairs said. “It just doesn’t work. That’s why we have a ZBA.”
Roesner-Meyers noted she wanted some type of written agreement to ensure the Legacy Center’s murals and signs will be properly maintained over the years.
“We have a lot of signs in Oxford that go into disrepair because the business isn’t doing so good,” she said. “We need that ability to make sure that you keep it up. A faded mural doesn’t do us much good.”
“I would be opposed to forcing that,” replied Bellairs, who felt “it’s too subjective” because everyone might have a different view of what they consider to be faded.
It was noted the township ordinance already has provisions in it requiring the upkeep and maintenance of signage.