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Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Ind. Law - Recent billboard ruling may help Crown Point "big box" position

A story today in the Munster (NW Indiana) Times by Allison Fashek reports:

CROWN POINT | A recent Indiana Supreme Court ruling could bolster Crown Point's position should it face a legal challenge on a recently approved ordinance making it more difficult for big-box stores to come to the city.

The case revolves around Pinnacle Media LLC's attempts in recent years to erect 10 billboards in Indianapolis. The company argued a change in an Indianapolis zoning ordinance concerning billboard location permits didn't apply to its plans.

But the court ruled Nov. 3 that because "no construction or other work that gave Pinnacle a vested interest in the billboard project had begun on the billboards at the time of the ordinance change, the ordinance change did apply to the 10 billboards."

Crown Point City Attorney Rich Wolter said Monday the city reads the case to mean the Plan Commission and the City Council can impose development restrictions or requirements up to the time construction on a project starts. * * *

Last week the City Council approved an ordinance amending its zoning code to force retailers wanting to build stores 75,000 square feet and over in B-1, B-2 and B-3 business district zones to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Council for a special use.

The ordinance threatens the viability of Lauth Property Group's proposal to build two anchor stores at the intersection of Interstate 65 and U.S. 231, one 203,000 square feet and another 88,400 square feet. One of the stores could be a Wal-Mart.

Lauth has been appearing before the Plan Commission seeking site plan approval for the project since September, well before the City Council passed the zoning code amendment.

The way the city reads the ruling, Lauth would have had to already start construction to fight the new ordinance, Wolter said.

For more on the Crown Point ordinance, begin with these 11/17/05 and 11/16/05 ILB entries. Re the Pinnacle decision, see these ILB entries from 11/4/05, 11/10/05 and 11/15/05.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 22, 2005 07:58 AM
Posted to Indiana Law