A giant Apple iPhone banner featuring Minnesota Wild hockey players in action might not adorn the outside of the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul after all.

In an about-face, the St. Paul Board of Zoning Appeals voted against three variances to allow the Wild to install oversized banner advertising on the Xcel Center’s Kellogg Boulevard face. The banner would be an Apple ad 58 feet high and 50 feet wide.

The BZA met Monday evening and voted 4-2, three consecutive times, against each of the three variances. City staff had recommended allowing the banner ad, a cross-promotion for both the National Hockey League and Apple’s photo technology, for up to three years.

The zoning code allows a maximum of two advertising signs at a professional sports facility, and two already exist.

Temporary banners cannot exceed 6 feet in height. And temporary signs cannot project higher than 37½ feet above grade. The highest point on the proposed sign is 96 feet, for a variance of 58½ feet.

Despite Monday’s vote against the advertising, a final decision likely will come down to the St. Paul City Council.

“We intend to appeal the decision,” said Bill Huepenbecker, a director of planning and public affairs with the St. Paul Arena Co., in a brief interview Tuesday.

The board had previously granted the St. Paul Arena Co. — the building management division of the Wild — its request to install the signage, which would span roughly 2,900 square feet.

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On Dec. 16, the board approved two variances. Under the city’s zoning code, temporary banners cannot exceed 120 square feet and can be displayed for no more than 90 days per year.

That decision was appealed by Jeanne Weigum and John Mannillo, advocates with Scenic St. Paul, who noted the sign was still short three additional variances that had not been discussed by city staff.

The St. Paul Arena Co. then resubmitted its application.

The company has 10 days to submit its appeal. “They only wanted five variances,” Weigum said sarcastically Tuesday. “It’s big. It’s enormous. This is an advertising sign, bigger than a billboard. And new billboards have been prohibited in St. Paul for about 20 years. This is precedent-setting.”