A restaurant owner in Wilson who violated state and local sign ordinance laws decided to burn down the barn on which his establishment was advertised.

The sign for Bill Ellis Barbecue, named for its owner, was plastered on the side of a barn he owned that was within view of traffic on U.S. 264 Bypass in Wilson. Ellis, by his own admission, did not investigate the sign laws before putting up the sign.

In May the Wilson County Planning Department sent Ellis a letter that warned him of the violations, and gave him 45 days to comply. County planner Dwayne Jones said Ellis’s ad was not permitted in that area because it was zoned as agricultural/residential. He said Ellis also failed to fill out a sign application.

“You have to be zoned ‘industrial’ or ‘commercial’ to have a sign,” Jones said.

Ellis responded by asking the county planning board to change the ordinance to allow the advertising. Jones said that would have required a study, and then a recommendation by the planning board to the county commission. Then commissioners would have had the authority to change the ordinance.

But by August the planning department again asked Ellis in a letter to remove the sign. The state Department of Transportation also notified Ellis that if he didn’t take down the ad, they would do it for him at his own expense.

According to reports in the Wilson Daily Times, Ellis said the sign was necessary so motorists could find his restaurant. Jones said the ad was posted on an old, abandoned tobacco barn on Ellis’s property, almost directly facing the highway. He described the sign as not especially fancy, or plain.

“It would have served its purpose,” Jones said, “but it’s illegal.”

Ellis had the local volunteer fire department burn the barn down because, he told the Daily Times, “I cannot get the manpower in fast enough to remove the sign.” He said the barn’s only purpose was for the advertisement, and told the newspaper his actions were “not done from spite.”

Ellis didn’t return a cell phone message from CJ seeking comment before its publication deadline.

Asked whether he thought it was necessary for Ellis to burn the building to comply with the county’s warning in time, Jones said, “No.”

“He could have taken the sign down a whole lot easier than the time it took for the firefighters to burn down the barn,” he said, adding that the removal of a few screws would have done the trick.

As for Ellis’s motives, Jones said, “Take it from what he says.” He said the planning department sent a thank you letter to Ellis on Sept. 16 for complying with the sign ordinance. Jones said that is typical procedure in such cases.

“We have to let them know that they’ve met the criteria that we’ve asked for,” Jones said.

Paul Chesser is associate editor of Carolina Journal. Contact him at [email protected].