SIDE STREETS: Common sense missing in code and zoning laws

How is this for logic: A day care center can have a lighted sign advertising its business on North Nevada Avenue. But when a bed-and-breakfast a few doors down puts up a simple wooden sign, it is ordered removed and the owner threatened with a fine.

In fact, the B&B is a block away from a home furnishings store, which also has a sign, and an apartment house. (It's not exactly a pristine historic residential neighborhood.)

Yet when Mike Beck erected a simple wooden sign in front of the Lennox House Bed & Breakfast in April, he learned that common sense doesn't always prevail when it comes to codes and zoning regulations.

Especially in Colorado Springs' Old North End, where residents have worked hard to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood against those who would build apartment buildings or modern houses or garish walls that don't fit amid the Victorian mansions and 100-year-old homes.

"They said we are violating rules preserving the historic aspect of the neighborhood," Beck said. "They told us our sign is not allowed."

This is not some obnoxious neon or lighted sign for a tattoo parlor or tavern. Beck put a 3-by-5-foot sign in his yard so guests unfamiliar with the area won't miss the Lennox House while driving busy Nevada Avenue.

Despite the bright yellow paint on the Victorian inn, folks seemed to have trouble finding it, especially through the canopy of trees and amid the heavy traffic that plagues the avenue. As a result, they have to turn and circle until they spot it, adding to the congestion of the area two blocks north of Colorado College.

So Beck commissioned a painted wooden sign, dug a couple of post holes and erected it in the front yard, inside its curved iron fence. (See photos, maps and more on my blog).

Big mistake. Soon Beck received a warning. The sign was illegal and had to come down.

"Our house is extremely historic and we designed the sign in that fashion," Beck said. "It matched the house, white and yellow with green trim."

Neighbors disagreed.

"I got a letter saying I'm going to be fined," he said. "Someone at the Old North End Neighborhood complained."

The warning irked Beck. For the past three years, Beck, his wife and three children have devoted their lives to restoring Lennox House and sponsoring events that preserve and highlight the history of the house and area.

And then there's the issue of the other business signs nearby.

"The day care has a sign that is lit up," Beck said. "Why can't we have our sign?"

Historic use of their properties as commerical lets the day care and home furnishings store have signs.

Beck will have to convince city planners and historians that his sign is necessary and would not damage the historic nature of the neighborhood.

It's especially complicated because Lennox House sits in the North End Historic District and is subject to City Council-imposed design guidelines enforced by the preservation board.

Convincing the neighbors will be the hard part. The Old North End fiercely opposed the B&B when it was proposed a decade ago. To appease them, the city attached a "condition of use" to the property's 1997 development plan prohibiting a free-standing sign.

Beck is considering if it's worth the expense, time and stomach acid he'd likely endure to get his sign.

Guess neighbors prefer having cars circling around, looking for the place.


Tell me about your neighborhood: 636-0193 or bill.vogrin@gazette.com