PORTAGE — Borough Council on Monday tabled a request for variance of an ordinance that prohibits businesses from hanging any signage obstructing the view of traffic.

Since Dominic Bellvia, owner of Portage Vapor & Cigar along Main Street, did not attend the council’s meeting to answer their concerns, solicitor Michael Emerick told Adel Salem Obad, a representative of the tobacco shop, the only options the council had was to table the matter for April 1 or strike it down altogether.

According to Mayor Robert Fox, the business wants to hang three signs, two of which would violate the borough’s ordinance, which states the area of a sign cannot exceed more than 26 feet. The overall combined area for signage on a property is 70 square feet, he said.

Fox said, in his opinion, the ordinance was put into place for a reason — to prevent people from going overboard with signage. “Three signs on the side of a building is a lot,” he said.

Fox said the ordinance states if it creates hardship to the business owner, the owner can relay the hardship to the mayor that the business cannot be seen from the road.

He said he’s not currently in favor of the variance “unless the owner convinces me that there’s some sort of hardship in not approving 137 square feet of signage on that property.”

Borough Manager Robert Koban said one of the council’s concerns is, although they know the size of the signs, they don’t know the height they’ll be placed at.

“The concern becomes sight restrictions looking up Main Street,” Koban said. “We’re not sure what the actual height of that sign would end up being.”

“There’s some issues that are going to have to be addressed if you want council to make a decision,” Emerick told Salem Obad.

In addition to tabling the sign variance request, the borough council also moved to table resolutions approving the routes for the 9/11 memorial trail and the appointment of a water authority board member.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.