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November 18, 2009

City Council meets over proposed billboard construction

By Arthur E. Foulkes

TERRE HAUTE — Members of the Terre Haute City Council want to stem the construction of any future billboards in the city.

Seven of nine members of the council met in a special “meeting of the whole” Tuesday evening at City Hall to investigate the recent issuing of city permits that give the green light for the construction of two new “double stack” billboards on South Third Street.

Council members and City Attorney Chou-il Lee said the company seeking the permits, Sign Language Media, a Georgia-based company, took advantage of a “loophole” in the city’s sign ordinance to get their permits.

The council plans to close that loophole at its December meeting by amending the city’s sign ordinance, council members said.

In the meantime, council members discussed ways Tuesday evening to prevent the new billboards’ construction through a loophole of their own. Sign Language Media did not obtain a “transient merchant” license – which is something required of out-of-town sellers of goods or services, including contracting services, said Councilman Norm Loudermilk, D-3rd.

“They do not live in Terre Haute. They are constructing an item. They are building something” and, therefore, need a transient merchant license, Loudermilk told the council. “We found a loophole of our own,” he stated after the meeting.

The failure to receive the transient merchant license should invalidate previously issued city building permits for the billboards, Loudermilk said.

Several councilmen expressed a hope that, if the billboard permits are found to be invalid, they can act quickly and issue a moratorium on the building of any new signs in Terre Haute, preventing new permits from being issued. The moratorium would prevent any new signs from being placed anywhere in the city – except yard signs – until the council can amend the current sign ordinance, they said.

Several councilmen also expressed a desire to pass an entirely new sign ordinance in the near future. Such restrictions promote the health and welfare of the people of Terre Haute, as well as the city’s “beautification,” Loudermilk said.

Existing outdoor advertising companies in Terre Haute support a halt to new billboard construction, Loudermilk told reporters after the meeting.

Some councilmen worried that the proposed billboards could still be constructed if a local contractor quickly applied for a permit. A locally-based contractor would not need a transient merchant permit, they noted.

However, there is no reason the Department of Engineering, which issues building permits, must issue permits the same day an application is made, Loudermilk said. Even if a permit application is made, there might still be time for the council to pass a moratorium on new sign construction before a new permit is issued, he said.

“As a citizen of Terre Haute and a City Council member, I’ll be pretty upset if I hear a permit was issued … to another contractor within 72 hours,” said Councilman Rich Dunkin, D-1st, and chairman of the special meeting.

“I’m tired of loopholes and games,” Dunkin said. The “spirit” of the city’s sign ordinance was to prevent new billboard construction, he said, adding that South Third Street is “littered with them.”

While preventing the construction of the new signs may infringe on the property rights of the owners of the land where the signs are proposed, the signs “are taking away a 30 [foot] by 50 [foot] chunk of … skyline from the people of Terre Haute,” Dunkin said. “I don’t think you can put a price on that.”

The need for a transient merchant license would apply to all out-of-town merchants and builders doing business in Terre Haute, including the Illinois-based company set to construct the new Indiana State University bookstore, Loudermilk said in answer to a question from the Tribune-Star. He was not aware whether that company, which received $500,000 in aid from the council for the bookstore’s construction, has obtained a transient merchant permit, he said. “The same applies” to all out-of-town businesses seeking to do work in Terre Haute, he said.

The council asked City Attorney Chou-il Lee to inform the council as soon as possible whether he believes Sign Language Media required a transient merchant permit. Due to state open-door laws, a moratorium on new sign construction would require at least two pre-advertised meetings of the council, a city official at the special meeting said.

At-large councilmen George Azar and Don Morris were absent from the more-than-one-hour special meeting. All other council members were present.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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