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Board approves Bentonville School District wall sign with time‑clock restriction in agricultural zone
Summary
The Board of Adjustment approved a variance allowing a wall-mounted identification sign for the Bentonville School District at the district property in the agricultural zoning district, adding a condition that the sign lighting be controlled by a timer.
At its Feb. 26 meeting the Bentonville Board of Adjustment approved a variance to allow a wall-mounted identification sign for the Bentonville School District on property zoned A-1 (agriculture), and the board added a condition that any sign lighting be controlled by a time clock to limit illumination after hours.
Planning staff summarized the application as a request under the zoning code’s sign regulations (cited during the hearing as section 801.215) for a wall sign on agriculturally zoned property for identification purposes. The staff note explained that uses such as schools and churches commonly require special or conditional-use approval when located in agricultural zoning but often seek sign allowances that resemble commercial signage.
Leigh Reinhardt of Best Sign Group represented the sign applicant and told the board she had no additional comments beyond the application. William Monk, the project’s general contractor with Flintco, said the wall sign’s primary purpose is to mark the building entrance for visitors because the campus is set back from the road. “The primary goal for this is to mark where the entrance to the building is,” Monk said. The contractor also offered to install a timer on the sign lighting to prevent illumination during overnight hours.
Board members discussed prior approvals for signs on similar institutional properties, alternatives such as a freestanding pylon sign nearer the road, and the city’s ongoing zoning and future land-use updates that could resolve the need for repeated variances on agriculturally zoned institutional uses.
A motion to approve the variance, amended to add a requirement for a time clock on the sign lighting, passed by formal vote. The board recorded the approval and the applicant may proceed with the wall sign subject to the lighting/time-clock condition.
Next steps: applicant may coordinate final sign details and the timing control with city staff as a condition of the variance approval.
