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Crown Point BZA denies temporary billboard variance after applicant cites city email and IDOT approval
Summary
The Crown Point Board of Zoning Appeals on a 4-0 vote denied Petition 25-31, a request by Michael Cruz to complete and display a temporary billboard at 12701 Carolina Street.
The Crown Point Board of Zoning Appeals on a 4-0 vote denied Petition 25-31, a request by Michael Cruz, contractor for Brands House Inc., to complete and display a temporary off-premise billboard at 12701 Carolina Street.
Cruz told the board he had contacted city staff before construction, submitted drawings on July 23, 2024 and received an email telling him he was "more than welcome to put these signs along I 65." He said the structure was about 95% built when city staff halted work, and that he subsequently obtained Indiana Department of Transportation approval. Cruz asked the board for a limited display period (he had requested 18 months) and offered to accept conditions and to remove the sign by May 7, 2027.
Planning staff reported the proposed sign faces measure 288 square feet each (12 by 24 feet): two locations with two facings, for a total of 1,152 square feet. That exceeds the ordinance limit for this residential area (16 square feet) by 1,136 square feet. Staff also said the sign-company license on file had expired and that no calls of support were received by the planning department.
Board members pressed Cruz on where the signs would sit relative to the I-65 landscape buffer, whether the city's written response included dimensions, and on the core legal standard for a variance. Several members said the petitioner had not submitted the findings-of-fact required to demonstrate a practical difficulty and warned that approving the request would set a precedent for similar requests from other developers.
"I just don't see the hardship," Board member Dan Rohaley said during deliberations, citing the ordinance's criteria and the risk of creating a precedent. John Marshall and other members echoed concerns about precedent and highway safety.
A motion to grant a 12-month approval was made earlier on the record but received no second. Board member Dan Rohaley moved to deny the petition for lack of demonstrated practical difficulty; the motion was seconded and carried. The board's final action on the petition was denial.
