With little discussion, the Campbell Planning Commission on Aug. 10 voted unanimously to approve a new master signage program for the premier shopping center in Campbell.

Equity Office Partners, property manager for the complex, applied for a new signage scheme that would upgrade the aesthetics of the center and provide greater visual consistency for tenant signs.

The changes, which will affect all signs in the complex—from the two large monument marquees off Bascom and Campbell avenues to the shopping-center directories to individual store signs—will also help customers navigate the complex more efficiently, said Equity Office Partners' Kathy Tate, managing director of the Pruneyard property.

"We found that some of our customer-intercept surveys indicated that many of our patrons wanted a better way to find their way through the center," she said.

The Campbell Planning Commission approved the center's current master sign plan in 1996, which doesn't differentiate between major and minor tenants; and requires all tenants to use existing cabinet signs that usually hang from the walkway ceilings.

Typically, tenants were unable to use individual fonts, logos and colors in their signs, but major tenants like Marshall's, Rock Bottom Brewery and Barnes & Noble booksellers have obtained sign exceptions from the Campbell Planning Commission because they found that their existing signs were too small to adequately identify them as major tenants.

Moreover, Campbell planner Stephanie Willsey said, because the original scheme called for signs that are uniform in appearance, many of the smaller tenants have been installing illegal signs to better enhance their visibility.

The other factor, Tate added, that led to the requested change was competition from other shopping centers—most notably Santana Row—which are all vying for the bigger tenants.

Potential tenants commented that the Pruneyard needed better signage before they would consider moving in, she said. "And one of the brokerage firms there said it was having difficulty attracting the bigger-name stores because of the sign issue."

One change—to allow signs to be placed on top of the roof instead of having them only hung from walkway ceilings—will also help avoid certain accidents that have been occurring, Willsey said.

"The applicant has told me that large trucks have been damaging some of the signs closer to the roads," she said.

Campbell Planning Commissioner Elizabeth Gibbons said the placement of signs was the only issue she was concerned with when the original plan came to the attention of the site and architectural review committee, on which she serves.

"We reviewed the project twice," she said. "The committee was supportive, but expressed concern about the possibility of having an overabundance of roof-mounted signs so close together, which would create a cluttered appearance."

To solve this issue, the planning commission is requiring that roof-mounted signs be separated by a minimum of 10 feet, as part of the conditions for approval.