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Belgrade board approves variance for downtown Lamar billboard over staff objections
Summary
After staff recommended denial, the planning board approved a variance allowing a single pylon billboard with two advertising faces in downtown Belgrade; staff cited incompatibility with the downtown design plan and sign‑size limits, while Lamar emphasized safety, community uses and that the sign fell in a windstorm.
The Belgrade City County Planning Board approved a variance allowing Lamar Advertising to replace a damaged downtown billboard with a single pylon structure that would display two advertising faces.
Planner Emily Martinez told the board the request would require four deviations from the sign code — including freestanding/pylon signage in the downtown district and a sign face far larger than the 40‑square‑foot limit. "The variance is not consistent with the intent and purpose of the current zoning ordinance and or adopted land use plan," Martinez said, citing the downtown design plan and the sign-copy area that staff calculated at roughly six times the permitted size.
Eric Sweet, representing Lamar, said the original wooden sign fell in a windstorm and that Lamar sought to repair or replace it in a safer, single‑pole configuration. "When the sign first fell back in December, it was an act of God, windstorm," Sweet said, and he told the board Lamar had purchased the 0.15‑acre parcel beneath the sign and wanted to "beautify Belgrade" and provide community messaging. Sweet also cited an engineering report that assessed the current structure’s wind rating at about 82 miles per hour but said newer standards are higher.
Members of the public and some board members pushed back on size and maintenance. A resident said she could see the billboard from her back porch and questioned how it would be lit and where the main pole would sit; another board member said the sign did not fit the character planners want for Downtown Belgrade and raised safety and maintenance concerns.
Staff clarified aspects of the repair standard: city code allows replacement without a variance only when repair costs are less than 50% of replacement value, determined by two independent appraisals; staff said they had not yet received a final site placement plan. Despite staff’s recommendation to deny the application, a board member moved to approve the signed variance "subject to all applicable laws, regulations and staff recommended conditions." The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.
The board’s approval includes the opportunity for the planning staff to attach conditions intended to protect public welfare; specifics of any required landscaping, lighting limits or final placement will be handled through permit conditions and follow‑up by planning staff.
