Dec 28, 2008 11:44 pm US/Eastern
Md. Court Rules Church Doesn't Need A Bigger Sign
LUTHERVILLE, Md. (WJZ) ―
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A six-year battle over a church sign comes to an end--for now.
A six-year battle over a church sign comes to an end--for now.
Gigi Barnett reports the church says it needs a larger billboard to attract members, but Maryland's highest court has ruled against it.
It's the last service of the year at the Trinity Assembly of God Church in Lutherville. But outside the congregation says people interested in attending next year's services can't locate the church because its sign is too small.
"There are so many things that we'd like to do more," said Mary Weber. "People don't know where we are."
So the church asked the county to approve a 250-square foot electronic sign with changeable messages near Interstates 83 and 695. The county feared a sign that large would distract drivers and threw out the request.
"There are billboards everywhere and there are billboards that change 'cause they're electronic. I can't see where that would make much of a difference. If people aren't crashing because those boards are out there, one sign for us, I don't think would be a hindrance," Weber said.
So the church took it to the courts. But last week Maryland's highest court sided with the county.
"Right now the sign that we have out there, it would be best used at 5 o'clock at night when people are going about 25 miles an hour. But at 55 miles an hour, it's almost impossible for them to read the sign we have," said George Raduano, the church's senior pastor.
Raduano says the current sign is about 25-years-old, and the Beltway, trees and church have grown around it, swamping the sign and clouding the church's message.
"We would like the opportunity for people to know what we are doing here and get the message out," Raduano said.
One option now is to improve its existing sign. The court says the church could reasonably "identify itself and conduct outreach" with the sign it has.
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