Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowState lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the Marion County Fair to place a digital billboard on the fairgrounds property that borders Interstate 74 on the southeast side of the city, even though city ordinances prohibit such advertisements.
Senate Bill 215, filed by Republican Sen. Jack Sandlin of Indianapolis, would require the city to allow the Marion County Fair to put an electronic billboard on its property.
For years, city officials have debated whether to allow digital billboards. But the last debate ended almost a year ago when Mayor Joe Hogsett’s plans to replace the digital billboard ban with a cap-and-trade-like system was killed.
The city has two existing digital billboards that were built after favorable court decisions, and two at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which are exempt from the city ban because they are on state property.
Marion County Fair officials told state lawmakers on the Senate Local Government Committee on Thursday that they want to place a digital billboard on the fairgrounds to raise revenue. They estimate it could bring in $25,000 a year.
The bill does not specify what size the billboard could be.
Cindy Mowery, president of the board of directors for the fair, said the extra cash is needed for the repair of fairgrounds buildings.
The property has 17 buildings, which were all built in the 1960s, and one is in such bad condition that it needs $150,000 of work to be fixed, former board member Don Brunson said.
But state lawmakers are uneasy about circumventing local control and questioned why the fair has not asked the city for a variance instead.
“This looks like a mandate to the city to allow you to have the electronic billboard there,” Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane said.
Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, said it looks “a lot like special legislation,” and suggested that lawmakers in the House won’t like that.
“It just looks like you didn’t want to go before the [Board of Zoning Appeals],” Bohacek said.
Mowery said fairgrounds officials have had discussions with the city, but there doesn’t seem to be an appetite to allow the exception.
“We’re not trying to circumvent anybody,” Mowery said. “We’re just trying to create a revenue stream for the Marion County Fair.”
Sandlin said he doesn’t think it’s special legislation, but he’s open to amending it to broaden the language.
“We’re generating an important stream of revenue for the continuance of the Marion County Fairgrounds,” Sandlin said. “This really would go a long way.”
The Senate Local Government Committee did not vote on the bill on Thursday. Committee Chairman Jim Buck said he will give it another hearing.
“I hear a lot of empathy from this committee for what you’re trying to do,” Buck said. “But I agree with Sen. Lanane… I think there are a lot of questions.”
A spokeswoman for Hogsett did not immediately respond to IBJ’s request for comment.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
NO
What the heck happened to the Republican Party? It is pretty clear the voters of Marion county are happy with the existing sign regulations. Why do an end run around local control? Do these guys sit around trying to think of ways to stick it to the state’s metro areas?
With the state fair ground in Indianapolis, I have to wonder why there are separate fair grounds? The Marion county fair is a pretty sad spectacle, and maybe it deserves to die, or at least find a better use for that land off of I74.
Oh… wait, I bet the fair board members are political appointments.
Agreed: if the County Fair is a money-losing proposition on a big site and can only survive with an electronic billboard, maybe the County Fair Board needs to think about other options.
Terrible precedent.
This is exhausting. I’m tired of the Indiana GOP telling Marion County what it can and can’t do and moving the goalposts for their own special interests. It’s time for Indiana to become a home-rule state. The Dillon’s Rule system has enabled ALEC and other special interest groups to simply buy legislation from the gerrymandered State Legislature.