By KEVIN NEVERS

Of the 12 variances which Scott Pendleton sought for his new Diary Queen on Indian Boundary Road, five were for single-sided wall-mounted signage, four for directional signage, and one for a menu board.

These the Chesterton Board of Zoning Appeals found unobjectionable and duly granted at its meeting Thursday night.

Two other variances, however—for a free-standing sign nearly four times larger and much closer to neighboring free-standing signs than the Zoning Ordinance permits—are sticking in members’ craw. Those two variances they continued to their next meeting, May 22, and for good measure added a public hearing on a third.

By a vote of 3-0—members Kim Goldak and Sig Niepokoj were not in attendance—the board approved 10 variances permitting the installation of the following: a single-sided DQ/Grill & Chill sign on both the east and west sides of the building; a single-sided Margie’s Cafe sign on both the east and west sides of the building; a single-sided promotion board on the east side of the building only; Drive-Thru, Enter, and Exit directional signs; and a single-sided menu board.

Total square footage of the single-sided signage: 260.7, or 206.2 square feet more than the maximum of 54.5 square feet permitted by the Zoning Ordinance. Attorney Greg Babcock, representing Pendleton, did note that his client had originally requested a total of 498 square feet but that he later amended his petition to reduce that gross surface area by 238 square feet.

Total wall-mounted signage: five, or four more than the maximum of one permitted by the Zoning Ordinance.

For the record, the Drive-Thru directional sign will be nine inches taller and 1.2 square feet larger than permitted by the Zoning Ordinance and the Enter and Exit signs will be five inches taller.

Meanwhile, members continued to their next meeting consideration of the two variances for the proposed free-standing sign: the first to allow a total gross surface area of 202.6 square feet, 157.6 square feet larger than the maximum of 45 square feet permitted by the Zoning Ordinance; the second to allow its construction 80, 75, 15, and 20 feet closer to four neighboring free-standing signs than the minimum of 200 feet permitted by the Zoning Ordinance.

A close look at the planned unit development ordinance which governs the property also persuaded Member Brandon Kroft—and then Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann—that an additional variance would be necessary: one to allow a second free-standing sign in the PUD district. As part of their vote members scheduled a public hearing at their next meeting on that third variance.

For his part, though, Kroft signaled his discomfort with the idea of another free-standing sign on Indian Boundary Road, which, he noted, is already “pretty cluttered.” Those free-standing signs “we’re forced to live with.” A brand-new free-standing sign, perhaps not.

Remonstration

One person objected to the petition at a public hearing prior to the vote: Victor Szurgot, owner of the Indian Oak Mall. Szurgot called Pendleton’s request for signage “excessive” and said that his tenants “are concerned about the loss of visibility and the carnival atmosphere those additional signs will create.”

Szurgot added that he currently has vacant spaces in his property and a “limited interest in them.” Pendleton’s property, on the other hand, is not set back from the roadway as the Indian Oak Mall is. On the contrary, it’s located at the major intersection of Indian Boundary Road and Plaza Drive, it’s large, and it’s not obstructed. “You can’t miss it,” Szurgot said.

When, moreover, Szurgot predicted, Luke Oil re-develops the former Shell property and obstructs the visibility of the Indian Oak Mall, the BZA is unlikely to allow him additional signage.

Szurgot did say that the new Dairy Queen is “a great idea.” But “there’s no realistic reason given for additional signage.”

Kowalski responded vigorously to Szurgot. “I don’t see how the Dairy Queen is a hindrance to Mr. Szurgot’s property,” he said. More to the point, “there’s no one stopping you from going through the paperwork” and petitioning the BZA for more signage for the Indian Oak Mall.

“This gentleman,” Kowalski said of Pendleton, “might well bring more business to your property and help you rent your building.”

The New DQ

Pendleton, who with his wife owns the existing Dairy Queen at 1249 Broadway, told the board that he and his wife plan to keep that one in operation and, when the new one is up and running, to renovate the old one. The two will accordingly compete with one another, Pendleton said, although he anticipates the two serving largely different markets: the old one mostly Dunelanders, the new one mostly over-the-road motorists and tourists.

The new Dairy Queen—in which Pendleton said that he’s investing $1.5 million—will have a total of 3,100 square feet, better than three times the size of the old one. It will operate under the “Grill & Chill” concept created by Diary Queen International, which is working to increase customers’ consciousness of its non-ice cream menu. Margie’s Cafe, an operation akin to the old Bert’s Bagels, will rent space on the south side of the building, Pendleton said.

Posted 4/25/2008