Man Ordered to Remove 'Jesus Is Lord' Sign

[southerngale]

I continue to be amazed at some people...and very disappointed. Can't those idiot officials find something worthwhile to complain about? I mean, Come on!

What is this world coming to????? :o

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BEDFORD, Pa. — A large neon sign that reads "Jesus is Lord" is catching heat from the managers of this historic borough.

Officials are threatening businessman Bob Foor with 30 days in jail if he refuses to remove the 3 1/2-feet-tall and nearly 100-feet-wide flashing red sign from a massive old building he owns in the heart of the borough's historic district.

Foor, who spent $10,000 on the sign, says it's his constitutional right.

"I feel they're violating my freedom of speech and my freedom to express my religion," Foor said.

The row began a year ago when Foor sought permission from the borough's historical review board to put up the sign. The board denied the request because of the size of the sign and the use of neon, both of which failed to comply with the district's historic appearance.

Earlier this year, Foor found out no permit was necessary to put a sign on windows, so he had the sign installed on the building windows.

"There's nothing wrong with putting beer signs on the windows, so what's wrong with this?" Foor said.

Officials, who gave Foor 10 days' notice to remove the sign, say it violates the historic district's regulations, the sign ordinance and the zoning law. Borough Manager John Montgomery added signs must be inside the window.

Letters Foor received from borough Solicitor Dean Crabtree said failure to comply could bring fines of $1,000 per day and up to 30 days in jail.

[therock1811]

What IS this world coming to???....sheesh!

[mf_dolphin]

But remember folks..."Give unto Ceasar what is Ceasar..." My read on the post is that he is in clear violation of the zoning ordinance. Freedon of speech does not give you the right to break a law doing it. I happen to agree with his sign but it should be done in accordance with local laws. If he complies with the law, or gets the law ruled unconstitutional, then more power to him

[chadtm80]

Agree mf... If he is breaking the law, then it dosent matter what the sign says... If the law says its to big - get a smaller one... If its Ilegal to have a neon, then get white lights... Now in just this article alone it is not very clear on if he is out of compliance for sure... but if he is, then he is in the wrong.. We will have to see if anything else develops

[Rainband]

Yes folks..I think this is more about the sign itself..than it's message!!! If it was because of what the sign said..then I would be pissed!!!!!!

[southerngale]

From my understanding, he wanted to put it somewhere besides the window and that failed to comply with the district's historic appearance. So earlier this year he found out no permit was necessary to put a sign on windows, so he had the sign installed on the building windows. I don't see how that is breaking the law. I could be wrong, but it seems to me somebody doesn't like the message.

[chadtm80]

Right... The article is not clear enough... We would need to know what the local laws are...

[mf_dolphin]

It's not clear, but it this line "Borough Manager John Montgomery added signs must be inside the window. " implies that the sign was outside the window.

[Rainband]

That explains the problem..unless they just don't like what it says!!! I think it's just a code violation and nothing more..I hope anyway!!

[coriolis]

Holy Cow! That's my home town. I think I went to high school with that guy. If it's the same person, he's changed a lot! God works in great ways. I'll have to email my folks to get the latest on this. Bedford is a rather small town (5 stoplights, total) and that's got to be very hard to miss.