Downtown boosters want the city to relax its sign rules for the Houston Pavilions, a $170 million retail and entertainment complex set to open in the fall.
If approved, the change would allow brightly lit signs and heights up to 80 feet above the ground, neither of which currently is allowed through most of downtown, which is a designated "scenic district."
Beautification advocates are balking at the creation of a one-time exception for a single project, arguing the move could open the door to demands from other developers.
The City Council could vote on the change to the sign code as early as Wednesday.
The White administration backs the change, which would create signage guidelines for a special "Entertainment and Retail District" in the three blocks occupied by the Houston Pavilions. The project sits between Main, Caroline, Dallas and Polk.
Planners said the Houston Pavilions requires more visibility and branding, to better attract convention goers and to fill a pedestrian void between downtown hotels and the George R. Brown Convention Center.
"Downtown desperately needs additional retail, entertainment and dining," said Don Henderson, board president of the Downtown Management District.
Henderson said convention planners long have complained about the lack of activities and shopping in downtown Houston, compared with San Antonio and Dallas. The Pavilions will provide that, he said: "You have to create a thematic space that draws attention."
Signed tenants include House of Blues, Lucky Strike Lanes, Red Cat Jazz Cafe and Books-A-Million. The project will include 360,000 square feet of retail space, an outdoor dining courtyard, loft office space and other entertainment.
Downtown is designated a scenic district, so direct illumination, such as neon signs or bare bulbs, is not allowed. Signs also are not allowed to be higher than 42.5 feet. The special district would allow the tenants at Houston Pavilions to use direct illumination, and would allow signs to be placed as high as 80 feet above ground.
The city has invested $5.5 million and Harris County $8.8 million in the project through the Main Street/Market Square TIRZ, or Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.
Councilwoman Pam Holm said she has reservations about changing the sign rules.
"I'm very concerned about crafting something for a single entity without opening the doors wide," Holm said.
Such fights not new
Both Scenic Houston and the Quality of Life Coalition are against the proposed changes.
"The laws and ordinances should be applied fairly and equitably without exception," said Max Watson Jr., a member of the coalition's steering committee.
Fights over signage in downtown are not new. In 2000, a request by Continental Airlines to project its logo atop its corporate headquarters prompted four months of impassioned arguments before the council agreed.
In 2002, the council allowed installation of flashing electronic signs at certain sports venues and some entertainment venues, such as the Downtown Aquarium, following months of negotiations.
Proponents said the Pavilions represents a unique situation, because of its location along a "convention corridor" connecting the convention center to the hotels on the west side of downtown.
"People look for brands," Councilwoman Sue Lovell said. "They're not going to read the brochures you put out at the hotel. They're going to walk outside and see a brand and go to it."
The council needs to pass the changes soon, said Andy Icken, the city's deputy director of planning and development in the Public Works & Engineering Department.
Icken said the Houston Pavilions is set to open Oct. 8, and the Society of American Travel Writers is holding its convention here Oct. 17.