City allows Billy Corgan to keep oversized tea shop sign

Highland Park City Council agreed to allow Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan to keep a large neon sign in the window of his tea shop.

The nearly 4-foot-tall neon sign in the windows of Corgan's Madame ZuZu's Tea House is five times larger than a city permitted sign. The city also said it's 130 times the allowable size for a neon sign.

Corgan wanted special permission to keep the sign and was prepared to go before the City Council Friday night, but they unanimously and quickly approved his request to keep it before he could do so.

"I'm really pleased," Corgan said about the council's decision. "I feel really strongly as a member of this community that I want to bring business to this community and one thing I stressed to the council in my letter was that, in a world that we live in, a social media focal point is very important and everyone that comes to ZuZu's on the town takes a picture in front of that sign. I knew from my years in rock and roll that you need something like that and so, we've drawn a lot of business to the community from out of state."

In his letter submitted to the city, Courgan claimed that he was unaware his management team didn't reportedly ask the city if this sign could be installed.

"We depend on drive-by traffic for business," Courgan wrote to the council. "Our sign informs the public we're open without distracting them. It does not obscure the vision of motorists. It does not shine light into any neighboring business and most importantly is not detrimental to public welfare."

Neighboring businesses said they were fine with the sign and that it wasn't causing any problems.

"It's good for us because it's bringing a lot of attention and interest to the area which is good for business," Daren Erjavic of Ravinia BBQ & Grill says. "I'm aware that he's the owner, but regardless of who owns the place, I think the fuss over a big sign is not a big deal."