(La Porte County, IN) - La Porte County officials have pulled the plug on a lighted sign advertising a marijuana dispensary in Michigan outside New Buffalo.

 

The mobile sign was along U.S. 12 outside a fireworks store paid by a dispensary to have the sign on its property.

 

The sign is now prohibited from being there after the La Porte County Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday denied the request by the fireworks store manager for a zoning variance to keep the sign at that location.  

 

The board heard from Derek Thompson, who lives on Grand Beach Road directly across the street from where that sign existed for the past couple of weeks.

 

Thompson said the LED sign disrupted his family’s peace after sunset.

 

“This sign is extremely bright.  It ruins our night within our home,” he said.

 

The BZA felt the sign in the back of a truck posed a hazard to drivers because of how bright and close to the highway it was located.

 

“I tend to agree with that as well, especially when those LED lights are at a lower level.  I feel it’s a safety concern,” said BZA President Melissa Mischke.

 

Mischke also expressed support for a proposed statewide ban on advertising marijuana dispensaries because of how prolific billboards promoting marijuana shops have become in Indiana where the drug remains illegal.

 

“I, too, as a Hoosier, I’m just generally offended by Michigan’s pot advertisement in my face,” she said.

 

Board members were also upset the sign remained there despite a recent order to remove it until the board decided the matter this week.