THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020253
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
The city's zoning board was wrong when it let four large signs remain at a Ghent gasoline station, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
The Board of Zoning Appeals erred in granting a variance for the signs at the Exxon station at Colley and Westover avenues, the court said Friday. The court said Exxon did not prove that complying with city zoning laws would cause an ``unnecessary hardship.''
The order was received Saturday by Wiley G. Gary, a neighbor and lawyer who challenged the signs.
``I'm pleased we got the whole thing over with,'' Gary said. ``Technically, they're supposed to take the signs down now. I assume the city (inspectors) will go out there and do its duty.''
Exxon's attorney, James M. Pickrell Jr., said, ``We'll do whatever the order says.'' The court's decision overturned a ruling last year by a Norfolk Circuit Court judge who upheld the variance.
KEYWORDS: ZONING LAW SIGN VIRGINIA STATE SUPREME COURT RULING
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