"We would have had to change our rules for them, and the commission just wasn't willing to do that."

That was the assessment of County Administrator Theron Gay this week after the County Commission turned down an unusual variance request by an outdoor advertising company.

Multiflex wanted a variance so it could place billboards on property that already had existing businesses, such as the Hot Spot on Ga. Highway 54 and the Chevron station at Thomas Crossroads.

But the current ordinance surrounding billboard placement states that a billboard has to be on its own parcel and cannot share the space with any other business.

"We look at it as a totally separate business," Gay added.

In fact, Gay said he's not sure that a variance hearing was even the proper place for discussion of the issue.

"I think Commissioner Leigh Schlumper was right when she said the company wanted us to change or ordinance to suit them,' he said.

Gay said the company maintains that billboards are an exercise in free speech and denying the request could be unconstitutional, but he said the county feels secure in its interpretation of the law.