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Board denies request to reduce 600‑foot billboard spacing at 716 North Main Street
Summary
The board voted 3–0 to deny a request to reduce the city’s 600‑foot billboard spacing requirement at 716 North Main Street. Staff said the applicant failed to meet the board’s variance standards and that the condition creating the proximity was self‑created; TDOT had separately approved related permitting.
The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously denied an appeal to allow billboard signage closer than the city's 600‑foot spacing requirement at 716 North Main Street.
Tom, the planning presenter, summarized the request from Michael Sutherland of Scotty's Outdoor and said the applicant sought roughly a 60% reduction in separation (placing the new sign approximately 200 feet from an existing sign). Staff applied the board's ten variance standards and found two standards applicable, two not applicable, and six not met; staff therefore recommended denial. "I think it's very explicit within the code that 600 feet, and, we shouldn't deviate from it unless there is some kind of really unusual condition," Tom told the board.
Staff noted two previous permits between 2017 and 2022 that resulted in sign separations below 600 feet (one at about 546 feet and one at about 120 feet). The presenter said the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) had signed off on the applicant's application and that a nearby billboard was installed in September 2025; staff emphasized that TDOT's standard references spacing on the same side of the road, while the city's municipal code prohibits new billboards within 600 feet of any existing billboard regardless of side.
Staff contrasted the present application with a recent variance the board approved for a different parcel, saying that prior approval involved an unbuildable lot and topographical constraints (demolition and a flume below the building) that did not exist here. Staff also noted prior unpermitted activity on the subject property, including installation of signage and use changes without permit, in the review file.
A board member moved to deny the request and adopt staff findings; the motion passed on a roll‑call vote with Chairman Williams, Member Armstrong and Member Patterson voting yes. The board's denial leaves the city's 600‑foot spacing rule intact for the parcel at 716 North Main Street and preserves staff's findings that no unusual hardship justified the variance.
