Grand County hearing officer takes Crescent Junction sign variance under advisement after debate on height and LED use

A Grand County land use hearing officer said he would take under advisement a request to install a 65-foot pole sign with an LED price display at Crescent Junction and issue a written decision within a day or two.

The hearing on Aug. 28 addressed a variance application from Texas Republic Signs to locate a tall, LED-equipped pole sign on a fueling station site partly below the Interstate 70 elevation. Land use hearing officer Craig Kahl opened the hearing and framed the issues as whether LED displays are prohibited by the county code and whether special circumstances justify a height variance that would make price information visible to motorists.

The variance applicant, represented by Michael Everett, permit manager for Texas Republic Signs, said the company seeks a 65-foot pole sign so prices are legible from I-70. "What I am requesting here is for a 65 foot pole sign to be installed, with an LED," Everett said. He told the hearing the LED display would not flash or move and that price changes would occur infrequently and remotely.

County staff and the applicant discussed two discrete legal and factual issues: (1) whether the county sign code prohibits LED displays and (2) whether the property's lower elevation relative to the interstate creates a unique hardship that justifies a taller sign. Kahl read the code language for prohibited signs (transcript…