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Board approves electronic message center for Elkhart 112 Club at 1112 S. 2nd St.
Summary
The Elkhart City Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a developmental variance allowing an oversized electronic message center at 1112 South 2nd Street, adopting staff-recommended conditions that limit animation, set minimum display times, and require automatic dimming and brightness caps.
The Elkhart City Board of Zoning Appeals on Dec. 11 granted a developmental variance to allow an electronic message center (EMC) at 1112 South 2nd Street, the site occupied by the Elkhart 112 Club.
Staff introduced the petition from Gogo Real Estate / Mount North Capital, saying the proposed EMC would exceed the ordinance’s allowed message area. Staff said the existing principal sign is 9.875 square feet and the ordinance limits the message portion to 50% of the principal sign (4.93 square feet); the petitioner’s proposed message area is 14.895 square feet, a variance of 9.575 square feet. Staff recommended approval subject to eight conditions used on other EMCs.
Richard Smith, representing the petitioner, told the board the digital face “occupies the same footprint as the previous sign,” said it “gives us a larger margin of safety,” and argued the EMC reduces wind-related hazards from loose letters. He said the sign “provides communication for our community.”
Board members heard staff describe the recommended conditions: motion/video/scrolling are prohibited; message sequencing that links messages is not allowed; each message must remain at least 20 seconds; the sign must automatically dim with ambient light; maximum brightness shall not exceed 0.3 foot-candle over ambient levels and light trespass shall not exceed 0.1 foot-candle measured at the property line; the sign must default to a single fixed message or go blank if it malfunctions; and messages may not mimic official traffic control signage.
With no public speakers for or against the petition, a board member moved to approve the variance “and adopt the petitioner’s documents and presentation together with the staff’s finding of fact,” and the motion passed on a roll call in which Mulvaney, Lightman and Ivana Rykov voted yes.
The approval includes the staff conditions designed to limit distractions and address light trespass; staff noted the sign was installed without a prior permit and recommended the variance in light of that and the sign’s existing footprint.
