Business withdraws sign ordinance appeal just prior to city council vote

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, 11:59 p.m. — A Bardstown business withdrew its appeal of an interpretation of the city’s sign ordinance just moments before a vote Tuesday night by the Bardstown City Council.

ROTH STRATTON

The council meet Tuesday in special session for what may have been a first in recent history — an appeal of an interpretation of the city’s sign ordinance. WBRT managing partner Roth Stratton filed the appeal after the radio station received a notice of violation for parking its mobile broadcast studio on property owned by Councilman Bobby Simpson at 718 North Third St. The violation noted that the advertising logos on the trailer made it an off-site sign for the radio station when it was parked away from the business.

The mobile studio is housed in an enclosed 14-foot trailer that displays logos, including those of the radio station and the mobile studio’s sponsor, Kentucky Home Bank.

Initially, the trailer was stored on Simpson’s North Third Street property. After receiving a notice of violation about the mobile studio, Stratton leased parking space from Simpson for storing the trailer, though according to Janet Johnston-Crowe, director of the joint city-county planning commission, it was still in violation of the city sign ordinance.

The issue wasn’t the trailer, but the signage on it, Johnston-Crowe explained. If the trailer is stored at a location in the city limits where it is visible from the right-of-way, it serves as a sign that advertises for the businesses displayed on the trailer’s exterior. If the logos on the trailer were covered by a tarp, it would no longer be in violation of the sign ordinance.

Quoting the sign ordinance, Stratton told the council the mobile trailer would retain its mobility and was not intended to become a permanent fixture. The mobile studio is designed to be used for radio station remote broadcasts, he said, citing recent on-location broadcasts when the studio was utilized.

“This is an interpretation issue,” Stratton said. He told the council he believed leasing the parking spots from Simpson gave him control of those spaces, and that they were in fact the radio station’s premises. When parked at the leased spots, the trailer was at premises leased by the station, he said.

While parking the trailer in front of the business would be OK in regard to the sign ordinance, Stratton said it wasn’t something he would consider due to the high demand for on-street parking in the 100 block of South Third Street.

In questioning by commission attorney Mike Coen, Johnston-Crowe explained that Goldmark Realtors have both a van and trailer with their business logos, but those are allowed by the sign ordinance because they are stored at the business location.

Coen questioned Stratton about the logos on the trailer and the trailer as a promotion tool for the radio station and the sponsoring business. When Coen referred to the trailer as a sign, Stratton disagreed.

“We all know why it is where it is,” Stratton told Coen. “I’m just trying to do it within the context of the laws of Bardstown.” He asked the council to consider the use of the trailer and that it was simply parking for trailer.

When both sides were done presenting their arguments, Mayor Bill Sheckles asked the council if they had enough information on which to base a decision.

Councilman Fred Hagan said he would support the commission’s interpretation. The trailer, while it was a mobile studio, also fit theordinance’s definition of a sign. Councilmen Joe Buckman, Roland Williams and Tommy Reed agreed with Hagan.

Councilman Francis Lydian said he didn’t believe the trailer met the definition of a sign. “To me its a mobile unit because its moveable,” he said. “I don’t think its a sign.”

As the council prepared to vote on the appeal, Stratton volunteered to withdrawn his appeal.

“After hearing what the council had to say, there was no sense in having them cast a vote,” Stratton said. “I believed it was a grey area. We can’t put it on North Third Street because of the regulations and we’ll abide that.”

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