Schaumburg wary of LED signs at Streets of Woodfield

Updates to the appearance of Schaumburg's Streets of Woodfield shopping center are likely on their way this year, but village trustees still need more convincing about two aspects of the planned changes.

Though they voted 5-0 Tuesday to recommend approval of most of the center's hoped-for improvements, trustees want to do more research on requests for two 400-square-foot LED signs on the north side of the parking garage as well as the increased number of ground signs for individual stores.

What trustees plan to give final approval to next Tuesday is changes to the facade of the center. Though the current Main Street concept will be retained, it will sport a more subdued color scheme.

The request that caused the most discussion was for two 20-by-20 LED signs on the side of the parking garage facing the Loews movie theaters. The village board has had a long-standing negative view of LED signs for both aesthetic and safety reasons - the primary concern being their ability to distract drivers.

The entire parking garage is planned to be covered by a metal mesh of vertical slats that pedestrians can see through from up close. The LED signs would be incorporated into these slats.

Village planners recommended approval of the signs because they don't commit many of the sins normally associated with LED signs. They're planned to display only static images - no moving text or animation - that will change every 15 to 30 seconds. They won't be visible from Route 53 or Higgins Road.

Trustee Tom Dailly said his initial concerns were based on imagining something like the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

"Now that I've had an opportunity to see some of this, I'm not as adamantly opposed," Dailly said. "Let's get to the heart of the matter - I think we all hate what Rosemont has."

But Trustee Frank Kozak said he hadn't seen enough to change his opposition to the LED signs and wasn't convinced by village planners that their approval wouldn't be precedent-setting.

Trustees plan to look at other examples of what Streets of Woodfield's owners are proposing for both the LED signs and the new ground signs for individual stores.