Playing banner favorites?
NEW LENOX -- Banners may not raise an eyebrow for some people, but they're are a hot topic of conversation in New Lenox.
The village board Monday allowed a large temporary banner on top of the under-construction Silver Cross Hospital but denied Central Presbyterian Church's temporary banner request.
The village board approved the banner for a year with the option to renew it for an additional year.
The hospital is slated to open in February 2012.
The board approved the temporary banner, in part, because the hospital does not have any other signs.
"This is unique," Mayor Tim Baldermann said. "It is not just a local destination. It is a regional destination."
Trustees were concerned, however, that a precedent would be set if the banner was approved.
Trustee Annette Bowden said she was concerned the village would receive a lot of requests for banners from businesses "we are not promoting as whole-heartedly as we are the hospital."
The 140-square-foot banner is about three times the size of the sign the village allows, officials said.
The church does have a sign but it is "not workable" and is "to close to the road," the Rev. Hope Sibson said.
"We are trying to make ourselves more visible," she said.
Village officials were sympathetic to the church's plight but did not think that a long-term 140-square-foot banner is acceptable.
If the board allowed a variance for the church, "We would be inundated with requests, not from churches, but from private businesses as well," Baldermann said.
He suggested the church have a smaller banner and use the banner only until a more suitable permanent sign can be constructed.
