The Esso gas station at 2295 Cliffe Ave. is becoming a Petro-Canada station, and the owners are hoping Courtenay council will give them some leeway to accommodate Petro-Canada鈥檚 maple leaf logo.

The owners want to rebrand the sign over the existing Esso gas bar canopy, which is part of the 7-Eleven Store on Cliffe Avenue, to a Petro-Canada canopy and are asking for a variance to the height of two fascia signs for the gas bar from one metre to 1.85 metres and to allow the signs to project above the roofline to accommodate the maple leaf logo for Petro-Canada.

The change will be cosmetic only and has limited effect on the surrounding areas, according to the applicants.

If they were to reduce the size of the logo to fit within the canopy, the logo would need to be reduced to 3.3 feet in height, and as these signs are mass-produced to be the same size for every Petro-Canada location, a 鈥済reat deal of extra expense鈥� would be required to manufacture these single-run signs, they noted in their project summary.

City planning staff consider the variances minor.

鈥淭he proposed gas bar signage is consistent with the Petro-Canada at the corner of Cliffe Avenue and 17th Street....,鈥� planning technician Erin Ferguson and Peter Crawford, the city鈥檚 director of planning services, wrote in their report to council.

鈥淲ith the exception of the requested variance, it is staff鈥檚 opinion that the proposal complies with the intent and provisions of the sign bylaw.鈥�

Notice of the proposed changes will be given to adjacent property owners, and the application will return to council Feb. 7.

writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com