Rochester City Council opts not to override Mayor Kim Norton's billboard veto

Aug. 7—ROCHESTER — A proposed billboard within 300 feet of Homestead Church lost support Monday.

The Rochester City Council opted not to overturn

Mayor Kim Norton's veto of a July 24 decision

to allow Reagan Outdoor Advertising to place the sign on a property near the church.

"I was taken aback and felt badly that I didn't say anything during the meeting," Norton said Monday of the July 24 meeting.

The council had been asked to reverse a decision by the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, which denied Reagan a variance for the sign since the city's development code restricts placement near a church.

Reagan sought the variance in an effort to relocate a billboard that was displaced by nearby development, and Reagan representative Nels Pierson said Homestead Church was not opposed to the sign.

Deputy Director of Public Works Ryan Yetzer has said city staff believes the request does not meet expectations of the city code.

On Monday, Norton said she had thought the council would vote to uphold the decision to prohibit the sign, but a 5-2 council vote sought to allow the billboard, which spurred her sixth veto in two terms.

Council members Shaun Palmer and Norman Wahl maintained their stance in support of the billboard on Monday.

Palmer said the option for a variance exists because all potential circumstances can't be fully addressed in the code, and Wahl said the unique situation along U.S. Highway 52 creates differing viewpoints and a challenge for the owner of the property where the sign would be erected.

"I don't think we'd be having this discussion had the property north of the lot in question not transitioned into a place of worship a few years ago," said Wahl, a retired minister. "That is a practical difficulty unique to this particular property and not one created by the landowner."

The arguments weren't enough to maintain support for council members who supported the billboard last month.

Council member Molly Dennis, who represents the ward that includes the site, said she initially supported the billboard as a benefit to the self-storage business where it would be built and noting it didn't appear to have a negative impact on nearby residents.

Among reasons for changing her stance, she pointed to an email from City Attorney Micheal Spindler-Krage, which sought to outline the council's role in determining whether a variance was justified.

"The city attorney should have, I believe, given information prior to the vote, not after the veto, that is very relevant," she said.

In the email sent on July 28, Spindler-Krage reminded the council of a training session last year related to similar planning decisions, which are referred to as "quasi-judicial."

"The hearing body is acting as a fact-finder (e.g. is the billboard really within 300 feet of a church?), and then applying the facts to the existing law," he said. "This was the same task for the Zoning Board of Appeals as they reviewed this variance request."

He said he wasn't seeking to sway the council, but advised them that they needed compelling reasons behind their decision.

In addition to Dennis opting to oppose the billboard, council member Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick abstained from Monday's vote regarding the veto.

"I'm just unable to make a just decision either way, quite frankly," she said, citing some agreement with both sides of the issue.

With Council President Brooke Carlson and council member Patrick Keane maintaining their opposition to the variance and council member Mark Bransford absent, the mayor's veto was upheld, along with the appeals board's denial of the variance.

Mayor Kim Norton has issued six vetoes since taking office in 2019. They are:

* May 20, 2019 — A

Wood Lake Park sidewalk plan

is vetoed. The council did not overturn the veto.

* May 19, 2021 — A

revised pilot program

creating a certificate of appropriateness related to renovations of potentially historic buildings is vetoed. The council didn't challenge the veto and reverted to adopting an earlier pilot program.

* Oct. 26, 2021 — A plan to

retain the former Legends building

as part of a small-area plan is vetoed. The council overturned the veto.

* May 18, 2023 — A

proposed open-gym pilot

project is vetoed. The council overturned the veto.

* July 11, 2023 — A

planned special election to seek a sales tax extension

with a single vote is vetoed. The council overturned the veto.

* July 27, 2023 — A decision to

allow a new billboard near a church

along U.S. Highway 52. The council failed to override the veto.