City Rejects Pro-Life Sign But Approves Signs for Liquor Store
The Kansas town of Basehor has denied a church request to place a temporary pro-life sign in front of their facility; however, the city approved a new liquor store sign in the same night’s voting.
Requests for both signs had been made despite both of the proposals violating existing Basehor sign codes (which are under revision). The liquor store received vast allowances to the sign code and its requests for permanent, larger signs than the code permits, in different locations than the code permits, were granted.
According to the Basehor Sentinel:
The approved $60,000 monument sign will be built in front of the new commercial space on Pinehurst Road that will house Bohannon’s Wine and Spirits Liquor Store and two other tenants. The sign will be set back 6 feet from the Bohanon’s Liquor property line, 4 feet less than required by city code. An additional sign directing drivers to the drive-through window of the liquor store will be 8 square feet, rather than the code requirement of 4 square feet.
The sign will include a 43-inch digital, changeable copy board not allowed in the current commercial zone under city code. First State Bank, with a digital copy board of 68 inches, and Community National Bank erected theirs prior to the current code’s creation.
The council approved the liquor store’s 18-foot-high sign and drive-through marker on a 4-2 vote.
On the other hand, Holy Angels Catholic Church was denied permission to place two temporary 16 square-foot signs outside of the church for just 60 days.
The Sentinel reports:
Meanwhile, a signage bid by Holy Angel’s Catholic Church on Leavenworth Road was rejected Tuesday night. The church is built in a residential zoned area of Basehor, which only allows a property to post three 8-square-feet signs.
The petition filed by Bill Loechler, the church’s pro-life coordinator, asked permission to post two temporary 16-square-foot signs for 60 days on the property with the messages “I am not a choice…I am a child,” and “Everyday 3,300 babies are killed by abortion.”
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
The request was apparently denied due to concerns by members of the planning commission that the two signs could jeopardize driver safety, but admitted that they believed residents would complain about the signs facing houses on the other side of the street. Members rejected the request by a 4-3 vote.
The church’s pro-life coordinator argued that the church was only requesting the allowances of the same nature as had been granted to industrial and commercial businesses (such as the liquor store). One member denied that the size of the signs was the issue of contention, not the message – though that seems highly questionable in light of the generous allowances made for a liquor store the same night.
