The City of Greensburg Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance. After that, at 7:00 pm the Public Hearing for the following sign variances was opened:
Sign Variance for Ameriprise Financial located at 101 S. East Street- No one in the crowd voiced concern or support for the project.
Sign Variance for GM Development Companies, LLC located at 1501 N. Broadway- Richard Vandike, a resident located across the street from where the sign will be placed went to the podium to ask what type of a sign will be installed and if it will be illuminated with bright lights. He said the church sign illuminates his living room and didn’t want to have another sign illuminating his bedroom. Sarah Hamer, Building Commissioner went to the podium to show Mr. Vandike the plans. After reviewing the plans Mr. Vandike said that he was comfortable with it and no longer had concerns.
After hearing no further discussion and no additional public comments the board moved to adjourn the public hearing.
At approximately 7:03 pm the normal scheduled monthly meeting began. Roll call was conducted with all members being present. The meeting minutes for the February 6, 2024, regularly scheduled meeting minutes and the February 12, 2024, Special Meeting minutes were approved by the board as written.
Spencer Burkert and Jenna Green, Ameriprise Financial representatives for the Sign Variance request for the property located at 101 S. East Street. Sarah Hamer, Building Commissioner explained that the reason for the variance request is that currently it is written in the ordinance that no property within either the Business District or the Historic District is allowed to have an electronic sign. The unique part of this request is that the building that Ameriprise is located inside of is located in both a Business and Historic District. Sarah then introduced the two representatives from Ameriprise Financial to speak.
The image above is the electronic sign that requires a Sign Variance.
Both Spencer and Jenna spent time speaking about what services Ameriprise offers to the public. They spoke about contributions that their clients make to local not-for-profits each year. Stating that last year $700,000 was donated to not-for-profits. They spoke about the cost of the electronic sign being $60,000 and that they would offer community events and fundraisers the ability to request that their information be posted on it. The BZA board members stated their concerns were with the concern of creating a precedent for other businesses that are located in the Historic District. Chris Stephen, Attorney explained to the board that voting to approve this Sign Variance would not legally set a precedent to approve other requests for signs within those districts. He further stated that each Sign Variance submitted is seen on an individual basis and therefore must be decided on individually as another request would have different aspects of it. Through further discussion, it was found out that the Historical Preservation Commission is no longer active and all requests that would have gone in front of that commission would have to go in front of Sarah Hamer and the Mainstreet Greensburg Executive Director. Sarah stated that she and the Interim Executive Director of Mainstreet Greensburg have already spoken and they will not be approving the request. Sarah said that the only part of the process that is missing is that they haven’t documented that decision. Requests such as these will go before the BZA board and then they would have to go before Sarah and the Mainstreet Executive Director (interim at this time). After a roll call vote being called Yeas:1 Neas:3, the Sign Variance request was not approved.
Sarah Hamer, Building Commissioner stood to represent the City of Greensburg for the sign to be located at 1501 N. Broadway Street. She stated that she was substituting for Mayor Josh Marsh as he was currently out of the country. This Sign Variance request was for the sign to be placed at the property where the new Street Department and Fire Department are being constructed. She said that currently, the guidelines state that a Sign Variance must be approved to erect a sign that is less than 600 feet away from a home. She states that this will be updated as they are changing the language within the guidelines from 600 feet to 150 feet. The sign will be out of the line of sight. The board unanimously approved this request.
The meeting was adjourned.
