Big billboard, big bills in Dyer, Indiana

Friday, June 29, 2007
Dyer officials have to weigh whether lease is financially wise move for town
DYER

By the numbers, it looks like this:Lamar Advertising would like to erect a billboard 10.5 feet high by 36 feet wide on Calumet Avenue. In exchange, it would pay Dyer $240,000 in gradually increasing increments over a 15-year period for allowing placement of the billboard on an industrially zoned area along that road.Town councilmen did not seem over enthusiastic about the payout when the idea was floated at a recent study session, but they said they would consider it. Any action would have to be taken at a regular Town Council meeting.
Lamar representative Shawn Pettit said one side of the sign would be digital, displaying up to six messages in sequence. The other side would be stationary. The lease would be more valuable with a two-sided digital sign, Pettit said, but Lamar proposed one side of digital because they thought it would be more acceptable to the town. Dyer would be able to advertise its own events on the digital side for free when space allowed. If the advertising schedule happened to be full, Dyer would have to pay for space. Exceptions would be made for Amber Alerts and other public safety messages.Although the money would be nice, Council President Paul Hayes said he could see little direct benefit to the town. Councilman Bob Block wanted to know how the digital sign would fit into the town's Dark Sky ordinance. That ordinance aims to reduce so-called pollution from residential and commercial lighting by having their beams directed downward.Pettit said Lamar could implement the sign in a way that will comply with Dark Sky. As it stands, Dyer's zoning ordinances really don't allow for billboards, and Lamar would have to seek a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

BY MARY WILDS Times Correspondent