News-Info-Alerts

Re: Speicher Tribute Gets Man in Trouble

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: January 06, 2003

"Man's tribute gets him in trouble
Banner memorializing prisoners of war violates Franklin zoning law
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer

A Summit County man has gone too far in his effort to memorialize prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.

So says the Franklin Township zoning inspector.

Robert Seelbach's memorial in front of his blue wood-frame house features a 32-square-foot banner paying tribute to Gulf War pilot Michael Scott Speicher, who has been declared missing in action, and ``all POWs/MIAs from all wars.''

But zoning inspector Stephen Peroz said the sign is too big and must come down unless Seelbach gets a variance.

Seelbach plans to seek such a variance at the Feb. 11 meeting of the township's Board of Zoning Appeals.

In the meantime, Peroz said the sign can stay.

Seelbach, who erected the sign early in the fall, was ``pretty upset'' to learn that his memorial isn't permitted.

``I just wanted to pay tribute to these men 365 days a year,'' said the Air Force veteran who coordinates an annual service for POWs and MIAs at the Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman.

Peroz said the issue is the sign's size, not its message.

``I have friends that were in Vietnam,'' Peroz said. ``It's just the size I have to look at.

``If everybody starts putting out these huge signs, where does it end?''

The township limits signs in residential areas to 6 square feet. Many communities have the same or a similar restriction, Peroz said.

Seelbach, a 40-year-old mechanic, became active in MIA-POW issues a couple of years ago.

He initially wanted to put his message on a permanent billboard next to a highway, where it would be seen by many motorists. But the cost was prohibitive, so he opted for a front-yard memorial.

Seelbach said he checked with a next-door neighbor, who had no objections.

``When I get really into something,'' he said, ``I just go ahead and don't think about the consequences.''

Seelbach paid a banner company to make the big vinyl sign. He attached it to a wood frame and placed small American flags underneath it. This spring he plans to plant flowers in front of the flags.

Peroz said he learned about the sign in mid-December, when two residents of the Melody Village subdivision, where Seelbach lives, called to complain.

Seelbach can't understand why the sign would upset anyone.

After all, he said, he hasn't heard any complaints about a Pittsburgh Steelers sign he hung on a fence in his front yard four years ago.

Peroz said the 16-square-foot Steelers sign is bigger than zoning regulations allow, but he doesn't plan to ask Seelbach to take it down. It's smaller than the memorial sign and attached to a fence, he noted.

But, Peroz said jokingly: ``I think that it should be a felony to have a Steelers sign in Ohio.''

Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com "