ADRIAN — Although neighbors were unable to stop Adrian College from putting a 90-foot-tall inflatable sports dome next to their residential neighborhood, they did have one win this week when the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals denied the college’s request to hang two 40-foot by 40-foot banners on the structure.

The decision was made at the May 6 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, a few days before the new dome was inflated.

The city’s zoning ordinance only allows signs in Education, Research and Office (ERO) districts to be 300 square feet, while the proposed signs would have measured 1,600 square feet each. The college proposed to put banners with the Adrian College Bulldogs logo on the west and south sides of the dome, facing U.S. 223.

Frank Hribar, the college’s vice president for enrollment and student affairs, said the college felt the proposed size was appropriate given the size of the dome. 

“This represents 1 percent of the structure per sign,” he said.

Hribar also said the banners would help ease traffic concerns by encouraging people to come from the direction of U.S. 223 instead of through residential areas.

Several neighbors spoke against the variance request.

“This request would just add to the visual clutter that exists between the football stadium and the baseball field,” said Sue Allshouse, who lives on Canterbury Street.

Her husband, Tim, said that the average highway billboard in Michigan measures 14 feet by 48 feet, or 672 square feet, while the two proposed banners would total 3,200 square feet. “The college is requesting the equivalent of almost five highway billboards being installed,” he said.

“If you travel on U.S. 223 from the Adrian College arch to the baseball field, there are already 11 signs that say Adrian College,” he said. “I and many others believe that 11 signs in less than half a mile that say Adrian College are enough. The residents and visitors to the area don’t need roughly five billboard added to the neighborhood. Zoning standards and ordinances exist for many reasons. I hope that you vote tonight to preserve what little of the character, safety and visual harmony are left in our west side neighborhood.”

Tim Bakewell, another Canterbury Street resident, agreed.

“It’s bad enough that I’m not going to be able to see anything from my backyard — no breeze in the summertime, just this monstrosity that they slipped through because of a hole in the ERO,” Bakewell said, referring to the fact that the city’s Education, Research and Office zone does not have height restrictions. “I really would like you to deny this. It’s time that the city had some backbone and stood up to Adrian College for once. Our neighborhood has been kicked around by Adrian College for so many years. It’s time to say no.”

Jim Berryman of Adrian spoke in support of the request, saying that the college benefits the city’s economy and that the banners would help the college attract and retain students. Berryman is a former mayor and a member of the Adrian College board of trustees, though he said he was speaking individually and not as a representative of the board.

“Adrian College is stronger today than it’s ever been. They bring people to Adrian,” he said.

ZBA member Mike Jacobitz, who also chairs the city planning commission, questioned the need for the signs.

“I am wondering why this needs a sign at all,” he said. “This is not wayfinding. Everyone for blocks around can see that this is the athletic dome. As folks have pointed out, there’s more than enough signage for folks to know that this is Adrian College.”

“It strikes me just as promotional,” he added. 

Jacobitz also said that when the planning commission reviewed the site plan for the dome, planning commissioners asked about parking and were told that it wouldn’t be an issue because the dome would not be a public facility. If enough public traffic is expected that signs are needed, he said, “then maybe we need to revisit the parking capacity.”

The Zoning Board of Appeals decided unanimously that the college’s request did not meet the standards required to receive a variance.