Avon business owner fights for costumed advertising

A business owner in Avon, Ind., is fighting town officials after he was restricted from roadside costumed wavers as a form of advertisement.

Victor Ruthig owns five Liberty Tax franchises, including a location in Avon.

Ruthig said the issue arose last April when town officials said they were going to start fining his Avon franchise for using mascots to advertise along the road outside his business. The initial reasoning was that it poses a threat of distracting drivers.

The town’s current ordinance states any sign that moves is prohibited, and it has now reclassified Liberty Tax’s advertising tactics as a sign, despite the fact their mascots don’t use one. To comply with this, Ruthig took the matter in front of the city in hopes of reaching a compromise.

“We asked if there was a way we could work it out, and they took it to the zoning board,” Ruthig said. “We were voted out 4 to 1.”

As of now, Ruthig has filed a civil lawsuit against the town but is hoping to settle a compromise before the matter goes to trial, which is set for early April. His initial compromise consisted of his employees being able to stand in the business’s parking lot. The recommendation was rejected.

“We’ve still got several different proposals in front of the town as
compromises,” Ruthig said. “We’ve proposed that we would only do it for certain lengths of time, but they haven’t responded yet.”

Indianapolis attorney Matt Price is representing Liberty Tax in the case.
Price said Liberty Tax and other franchises in the Avon metro area have been using these wavers for many years, and no incidents have been reported as a result from them causing any sort of distraction.

“It’s an odd argument that the town’s trying to make,” Price said. “What they fail to do is have any nexus between the wavers and the accidents.”

Although the Avon case has yet to settle, it is not out of the question the outcome could affect sign ordinances already in place in other locations, including Bloomington.
Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington, said the city of Bloomington regulates a strict sign ordinance, but so far there has been no talk or dispute about amending this.

“A bill to address something like this would be pretty difficult to craft. Judging by some of the bills I’ve seen in the legislature, though, it wouldn’t surprise me if I did see one proposed,” Stoops said. “The question is how much they can regulate it. You could make the case that they’re a distraction, but at the same time they’re still just a sign.”