Published: November 16, 2009 09:57 pm      

Gas station set to upgrade its sign

BZA approves variance from size restriction.

The Logansport Board of Zoning Appeals on Monday approved a variance to allow for two lighted numeral signs on the canopy at McClure Oil Co.’s Mall Road location.

Chad Bailey from Vanadco Signs in Argos said the new signs would clean up the property.

“It will make that corner a lot more desirable,” he said.

A condition of approval was that the current numeral price sign affixed to a light pole on Market Street be removed. Bailey made the case that removing the light pole sign would increase visibility for traffic on Market Street and Mall Road.

The new signs should also increase safety for the company’s employees.

“There will no longer be workers going outside to change the price, especially in the winter months when it is so cold outside,” Bailey said.

Changing the signs will be done electronically inside the station. The electric signs will also be static, meaning they do not have changing messages or images.

The two LED signs will feature numbers two feet tall, a break from the ordinance that requires they be a maximum of 18 inches.

Bailey said the increase in size is necessary for traffic to read gas prices because the new signs will be higher and further back from the roadway.

Board of Zoning Appeals member Chico Rodriguez expressed hesitation about allowing the size increase.

“So, if we approve this, we will be setting a precedent,” Rodriguez said. “Other gas stations will want the bigger letters, and 24 will be the new 18.”

Bailey said McClure was interested in erecting the signs only if it was allowed the larger numbers. If the variance had not been granted, he said, the company would simply have left the current sign in place. He said the company wanted the new signs to help advertise and attract business.

“In this economy everyone is so poor, and businesses are doing anything they can to get customers,” he said.

The signs also break sign standards because they would be affixed to stand six inches above the canopy height. Bailey explained the height difference was simply an installation preference, as it would allow the company to install electrical wiring from better locations.

A final condition of approval was the removal of various promotional signs on the property. The signs advertising different products sold within the gas station’s convenience store were ordered to be taken down.

“We did not realize they were out of compliance,” said Richard McClure, the executive vice president of McClure Oil Corp.

Planning director Stan Williams said the promotional signs had not been considered a priority, but he said they did violate the ordinance and would need to be removed.

• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.