Park Ridge Mayor's First Veto Is To Deny BP's Sign Request

PARK RIDGE, IL - Park Ridge Mayor Marty Maloney exercised his first veto since becoming mayor in 2015 when he overruled the Park Ridge City Council's decision to approve a 72 square foot sign at the BP station on Touhy Avenue last week. The current limit for pole signs in the area is 32 feet and representatives of the gas station were requesting a zoning variance.

"I object to the vote because the standards for granting a variance were not met sufficiently in my opinion in two out of the three standards," Maloney wrote in his veto notice.

The mayor rejected BP's claim of experiencing an undue hardship by not constructing a large sign, although he noted that both Thornton's and Shell gas stations currently have signs that exceed the 32-foot restriction. Businesses showing an undue hardship are generally allowed variances.

"Allowing the applicant to piggy-back and use two non-conforming signs to create the backdrop of an undue hardship would be wrong," Maloney wrote. "The decision this council needs to make and the direction we need to be heading, beginning with this case is adhering to the code."

The City Council could decide to override Maloney's veto at its Nov. 6 meeting.

Photo: BP Gas Station at 1220 W. Touhy Ave. in Park Ridge. Via Google Maps screenshot