BZA clears O’Reilly Auto Parts wall sign variance to improve visibility from State Road 135

The Bargersville Board of Zoning Appeals on a unanimous vote approved a development-standards variance allowing an additional wall sign on the west elevation of the new O’Reilly Auto Parts store at 2860 Fulmer Drive.

Docket VAR-517-2025 asked the board to allow a wall sign that staff described in the record as approximately 121 square feet on the west elevation. Planning staff said the site is zoned C-3 and set back more than 75 feet from the right-of-way, which increases the sign-allowance area; however, the petitioner said the store’s west-facing elevation is not easily visible to motorists traveling on State Road 135 and that additional wall signage is needed for driver awareness.

Representatives Charles and Crystal Whitehead appeared for the petitioner and said the proposed sign would match the two permitted wall signs already on the building’s other elevations and that the additional sign would make the store visible to traffic on 135. The petitioners noted that O’Reilly also has a monument sign permitted near Whiteland Road but that travel speeds on 135 make that monument sign difficult to see from some approaches.

Planning staff walked the board through the town’s sign-allowance methodology, which factors building setback and linear frontage to compute a baseline sign allowance and permits additional allowance when a building fronts multiple rights-of-way. Staff told the board that, under the Unified Development Code, a parcel fronting multiple streets may have double the basic allowance spread across elevations rather than concentrated on a single face.

Board members discussed the risk that future development on the adjacent parcel could obscure the west elevation but noted that that possibility is outside the board’s control. One board member suggested a stipulation that the petitioner could not later claim a neighboring build-out invalidated the variance; staff and petitioners said they understood that limitation.

Board member Rowanna Umbarger moved to approve VAR-517-2025 with a condition limiting the variance to the size presented; that motion was seconded and approved by roll call: Rowanna Umbarger, aye; James Kopp, aye; John Mandebach, aye; Larry Hughes, aye; Jeff Sikwair, aye. The motion carried unanimously.

Planning staff and petitioners said the store opened last month and that the monument sign by Whiteland Road remains available but may not provide sufficient visibility from 135 at typical travel speeds.