Lansdale Council Supports Church LED Sign Request in 8-1 Vote

First Baptist Church is one step closer to getting an LED sign at the edge of town.
Council voted 8-1 Wednesday to send a letter in support of the LED sign request to the zoning hearing board. Council President Matt West was the dissenting vote.
"It's more of a personal aesthetic taste: I just don't think an LED sign is the look and feel Lansdale should be going for," West said.
Representatives from the church at Seventh and Broad streets in Lansdale appeared, along with counsel and traffic engineers, Wednesday before a special meeting of Lansdale Borough Council.
Two weeks prior, council had voted to table a motion to support a variance application by the church to the zoning hearing board to allow the LED sign. First Baptist Church wants to install a sign with a 6 foot 9 inch by 2 foot 5 inch message field to replace its existing maroon and gold wood sign on Broad Street. The intent is to advertise events and church news, as well as to offer use of the sign to Lansdale Borough for emergency messaging.
Last year, the zoning hearing board approved a similar sign for Lansdale Catholic, albeit with different restrictions on the frequency of the message: No more than once a day versus the proposed every 90 seconds at First Baptist Church.
The church claims the frequency in messaging corresponds to the signal cycle at the intersection of 100 seconds. Visibility also played a factor into the proposal, as traffic planner John Wichner of McMahon Associates said the sign is visible at 380 feet approaching the intersection on Broad Street into Lansdale, and between 150 and 170 feet in all other approaches.
Some council members felt the show of support opened a door to precedence.
“I am learning a lesson the hard way this evening - you’ve got to be careful what you do. We opened the door to this precedent,” said council Vice President Mary Fuller, according to The Reporter.
West said he was not in attendance for last year's letter of support for the Lansdale Catholic sign was approved by council.
"I would have made the same statement then," West said. "Since we already set a precedent of the Lansdale Catholic sign, it's difficult for anyone else to vote no on it."