Use it or lose it.

That’s the new policy the Chesterton Board of Zoning Appeals wants to enforce for variances granted.

Currently there is no time limit to use the variance, but Thursday members indicated one year from the date of issuance is reasonable.

In fact, all three petitions approved last night had that condition attached, and BZA members asked the town Advisory Plan Commission to consider initiating an amendment to the town code making a one-year expiration or mandatory review a requirement under the zoning ordinance.

The Town Council would have to give final approval to any change.

“We need something to put some teeth into it, some backing,” agreed BZA and Plan Commission member Fred Owens. He asked Sig Niepokoj, who also sits on both boards, to bring the variance amendment to the commission’s attention.

BZA member Jim Kowalski said he is aware of variances granted four and five years ago for residential property and nothing’s been done. In the interim, noted BZA attorney Charles Parkinson, conditions could have changed.

The petitions that had the one-year time limit put on their approvals Thursday were additional signage for CVS at 118 E. County Road 1100N., location of a sign at the new Indiana Farm Bureau office at the former Pizza Hut property on Indian Boundary Road west of Indiana 49, and mural approval at Tiny Bubbles Car Wash, 451 Roberts Road.

During public hearings on each petition, no one commented either in favor or in opposition.

The board approved having the photographic faces of smiling men, women and children appear on red vinyl to be placed in the CVS windows. BZA members first upheld the interpretation of town building commissioner Dave Novak that the images were in fact signs.

Kelly Barber of Sign Art representing CVS said the faces were generic people and didn’t advertise CVS as a depiction of a pharmacist would.

“What’s the name of your company?” asked Kowalski. “Sign Art,” Barber replied. “What does it do?” Kowalski asked again. “We build signs,” she said.

Barber said the new CVS building appears dead in the water because both banks of windows at the northwest corner appear black and uninviting, while the images on vinyl would bring vitality and life to the building.

She also said covering the windows is a matter of security; Novak said the windows appear black because walls are directly behind them so no one can see in. Barber also said town code allows CVS to vinyl the windows anyway but it creates a hardship not to include the lifestyle images on it.

BZA member Brandon Kroft’s concern was, if the variance were allowed, that in six months the images aren’t changed to be more CVS-specific. A condition of approval was the use of the submitted generic faces only.

Kowalski told Barber CVS’s biggest sign problem at the site is the location of its main freestanding sign at the far southwest corner opposite the front of the store. Barber said Sign Art had inquired about moving it but CVS did not want to pursue it now.

At the time the store was opened this year CVS obtained a number of variances for signage; the ordinance provides for 60 square feet, 292 square feet currently are permitted, and an additional 306 square feet of sign area was approved Thursday.

Michael Sutter won approval for murals on two walls of Tiny Bubbles Car Wash, that permission tied to the proposed concept of cars being washed in front of familiar Chesterton scenes.

According to BZA member Kim Goldak, “If we don’t say this, you could go in and put something we didn’t approve.”

Specifically, Sutter was requesting a variance to install a 250 square-foot mural on the building’s south wall, a sign 245 square feet larger than allowed. Likewise, the second variance for a 540 square-foot mural on the west wall was 470 square feet larger than permitted.

In the night’s remaining petition under public hearing, Abigail Renie as building owner representing Manitou Holdings Group, LLC was granted three variances to erect a legal monument sign for Farm Bureau Insurance.

Such signs must be a distance of at least 200 feet from other existing freestanding signs. Farm Bureau’s will be 41 feet closer than allowed to Kentucky Fried Chicken/A&W’s sign, 108 feet closer to Subway’s sign, and 36 feet closer to the sign at Dunkin Donuts.

BZA members commended Renie for not having any signage on the insurance building itself.

A scheduled preliminary hearing for Anita Budney and Robert Budney was withdrawn when it was determined they require a home occupation, not a variance, to operate a hair salon in the home.

Posted 8/28/2009