Fort Pierce Board of Adjustment debates variance for 25-foot digital billboard; record shows conflicting vote

A public hearing before the Fort Pierce Board of Adjustment considered a variance request to install a 25-foot digital billboard at 1710 North 20th Street, where the parcel size is 0.25 acres and the property is zoned C-3 (general commercial). The applicant, represented in part by attorney Ian Osking and applicant Scotty Shaver, asked the board to allow a ground-mounted digital billboard higher than the city code’s height limits for lots of that size.

The request sought to deviate from city sign regulations that limit ground-sign height based on parcel size. Staff said sites of 3 acres or less have a 10-foot maximum under current code and that the subject parcel is 0.25 acres. Staff’s presentation noted the permit history, said the use (an off-premise billboard) is allowed in C-3, and recommended that if the board approves the variance it include two conditions: (1) a full landscape plan that buffers and obscures direct sight of the installation from immediately adjacent residential properties to the east, and (2) a landscape maintenance agreement requiring installation, irrigation and perpetual…