Prince Of Peace Granted Sign Variance

The City of Sturgeon Bay’s Zoning Board of Appeals granted a variance to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church to replace its current ground sign at the corner of Michigan Street and 18th Avenue with an Electronic Variable Message (EVM) sign.

The variance was required because the church is located in a single-family residential (R-1) zoning district and the city’s code only allows EVM signs in commercial and industrial zoning districts.

Prince of Peace Lutheran’s request for a variance to install the 24-square-foot EVM sign stated the church’s “existing letterbox sign is no longer a sufficient method to effectively communicate our message to the community members.”

Variances were previously granted in the city for churches to have EVM signs, including United Methodist, Bay View Lutheran and St. Peter’s Lutheran.

City planner/zoning administrator Stephanie Servia said a series of conditions had been included in the board’s granting of a variance to address neighbors’ concerns related to safety and light pollution.

Servia said messages displayed on the sign must remain in place for a minimum of 90 seconds before being changed, and the sign may not be in operation between the hours of 9 pm to 6 am.

She said the sign’s brightness may not be greater than 8,000 nits, which are units of measurement used to quantify the brightness of electronic displays.

Servia said the final sign design must also be approved by the city’s Aesthetic Design and Site Plan Review Board.