Wisconsin Bar Owner In Billboard Brouhaha

[Erik Sine]

FOND DU LAC, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (search) wants a restaurateur to give his billboard-covered barn a new coat of paint.

Chuck Boyd (search) uses his eye-catching roadside barn as a billboard to promote the two eateries he owns. But state officials said the ads have to go because he doesn't have a permit for the signage and it's too late to get o­ne.

But Boyd said he went through the proper channels before he covered the barn in images. "We didn't try and hide it. We didn't throw a canvas over it at night or anything. I mean, we light the thing up — we're proud of it," Boyd said.

However, Wisconsin officials say it's time for the billboards to come down. "Just because it's up there for 10 years doesn't make it right," said Les Fafard of the state transportation department.

The department overlooked Boyd's barn because its code enforcement department wasn't fully staffed, officials said. But now the state is going after Boyd because states not enforcing billboard laws run the risk of losing millions of dollars in federal highway funding. Chuck Boyd is gathering signatures to save his billboard and said the state should be concerned about more important issues. But transportation department officials said they cannot make exceptions — even for a visually appealing billboard.

-Fox News