North Carolina Insurance Agent Ordered to Hide his Fire Truck

March 31, 2008

State Farm insurance agent Darin Morton has had a fully functioning fire truck parked in front of his office in the Charlotte, N.C. suburb of Pineville for six years.

But The Charlotte Observer reports that Pineville's Board of Adjustment voted last week to give Morton one month to hide the truck.

Morton's 1975 fire truck has gold letters with information about his business. He was cited last month for violating the town's zoning ordiance that prohibits "vehicular signage.''

Zoning administrator Kevin Icard said he's gotten several complaints about the truck.

Icard says Morton had covered the letters with magnets and moved the truck to the back of his parking lot. But Icard says that's not enough because the vehicle is used to advertise the business.