Boerne’s Design Review Committee voted 2–0 on April 9 to deny a sign variance request for El Chaparral Cocina y Cantina at 36 Old San Antonio Road. Chairman Chris Taylor abstained. Two board members were absent.
Applicant Patrick Smiley sought permission to add a second freestanding sign near the driveway entrance along Old San Antonio Road and to place the two signs roughly 100 feet apart — half the 200-foot minimum separation the city’s Unified Development Code requires. The property sits in the C3 Community Commercial zone within the Heritage Corridor Overlay.
The existing monument sign stands about 8 feet tall with a roughly 4-by-9-foot face, set back 54 feet from the property line. The proposed addition would be a single-sided post-and-panel sign, also 8 feet tall, with a 24-square-foot face and no illumination, positioned between the sidewalk and a retention pond embankment.
Planner Jo-Anmarie Andrade presented staff’s findings, which identified site constraints — irregular lot configuration, driveway placement, right-of-way dedication, landscaped areas, and drainage features — but concluded those conditions arose from decisions made when the property was originally developed and platted. Staff found nothing preventing relocation of the existing sign or installation of a single compliant replacement.
Taylor asked whether the proposed sign would create visibility or safety problems for passing drivers. Andrade said her site visit found no such concerns given the setback from the right-of-way.
Denial rested on the staff finding that the separation requirement could be met through alternative sign placement, and that granting the variance would depart from the uniform standards applied across the overlay district.