Here's the No. 1 lesson learned for one high school student: “Even if you do everything right, there will still be people who think that what you're doing is underhanded or sneaky. Even if you're doing everything above board,” said Josh Hamilton, a Sentinel junior and spokesman for the project.
The worry from Ward 4 Councilman Jon Wilkins is mostly that the sign will be much too big: “It would be almost like going to a drive-in movie.”
“It's a community issue, and it is a concern,” Nugent said of sign matters in general.
As proposed, the Sentinel sign wouldn't meet city standards, according to the Office of Planning and Grants. Senior planner Dave Loomis said zoning allows a sign as high as 6 feet tall, but Sentinel wants one that's 15 feet tall. The rules say a sign should measure a maximum of 10 square feet on one side, and the high school is asking for 56 square feet.
The proposed sign would be on a pole on the west side of campus. Loomis said it would have a readerboard and be illuminated internally. As planned, principal Rob Watson said it would have advertiser logos, but those would be static.
The Board of Adjustment holds a hearing Jan. 28 on the sign request, but doesn't have the power to block it. Councilman Wilkins, who asked last month the meeting be postponed until this month, wants neighbors to be able to comment anyway and said he hopes the Sentinel crew will listen.
“I'm not against you having a sign. I think Hellgate (High School) has an appropriate sign on their building. Attach it to the building, and don't make it so big,” Wilkins said.
The size doesn't look negotiable, though. Sentinel's Hamilton said the school already found a used sign and it isn't something that's easily cut down.
“The sign will be very large, but it's not going to be that bright, I don't think,” Hamilton said.
Sentinel, though, is willing to compromise in other ways. Hamilton, a member of the high school marketing club DECA, said the sign's location is one. Also, the message board could be programmed to turn off automatically at night if needed.
“We're just going to be putting a sign up. We're not going to be invading your living room,” Hamilton said.
He and other students are working on the project as part of a marketing class. He said students return from vacation this week and soon plan to knock on doors in the neighborhood to talk with residents and alert them to upcoming meetings.
The high-schoolers have a strong track record of making things happen, he said. They got an ATM machine installed at Sentinel, for one. When they learned the school had a fund with $10,000 for a new sign, they decided to get the job done. The project requires $30,000 total - and much tenacity from the group.
“Nobody else could get through all the paperwork at City Hall,” Hamilton said.
And at City Hall, Nugent said it's clear the state doesn't want a local municipality governing the state with zoning. Part of the argument was this: “The taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill for government entities getting into disputes with each other.”
Back in 1981, then-legislator Dan Kemmis tried to change the law so state property was subject to local zoning, Nugent said. The result came back “watered down” and required only that a public forum be held. It doesn't give a local board authority.
Here's a portion of Montana Code Annotated 76-2-402: “Whenever an agency proposes to use public land contrary to local zoning regulations, a public hearing, as defined below, shall be held. ... The (local board of adjustments) shall have no power to deny the proposed use but shall act only to allow a public forum for comment on the proposed use.”
“They have to have this hearing, but the board can't vote on it. They can't deny what these people are doing,” Nugent said.
Sentinel has an old sign on its building, but it isn't too visible, said principal Watson. He said a new sign is the best way to alert the community to activities and events at the high school. Even if the sign doesn't go up, though, Watson said the project has provided good experience for Sentinel students.
“Whether the sign happens or not, the kids have learned a ton,” Watson said.
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td wrote on Jan 4, 2009 5:46 PM:
" As someone born in Missoula and who graduated from Big Sky in 86, I say let them have their sign! My mother graduated from MCHS in 1964 and would agree as well. Have some pride in your campus. if the NIMBY's want to gripe, send them back to California. "
CS wrote on Jan 4, 2009 6:40 PM:
" City ordinance only allows at 10 square foot, 6 foot tall sign?!? A sign that size wouldn't be large enough to accomplish anything! Maybe what needs to be looked at is the rediculously restrictive nature of the city's ordinance. C'mon commissioner, South Ave. isn't a residential street anymore...at least it shouldn't be thought of as one! "
JR wrote on Jan 4, 2009 12:19 PM: