Billboard related and why is it you have to register to post on Delco News Network's website to post comments but not on Main Line Media News' website? Aren't they both Journal Register?

News Of Delaware County > News
New billboard issue: safety
Published: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
By Lois Puglionesi
CORRESPONDENT

HAVERFORD TWP — Township Engineer Dave Pennoni and Deputy Police Chief John Viola were key witnesses at last week’s zoning hearing on a controversial billboard case concerning Bartkowski Investment Group’s proposal to install five billboards in Haverford.

Hoping to show that the 672-square-foot double faced signs, 51 to 77 feet tall, could adversely impact public health, safety and welfare, Solicitor James Byrne asked Pennoni if he had any safety concerns regarding the applications and locations.

B.I.G. has signed lease agreements with property owners at 2040, 1330, 1157 West Chester Pike and 600 and 658 Lancaster Avenue.

Pennoni said he did.

“Should there be a structure that is not properly designed, built or maintained that would be cause for concern.”

Pennoni added that damage could also result if conditions exceed design criteria. While billboards are usually built to withstand winds up to 90 m.p.h., for example, Pennoni noted that winds can surpass that speed during severe weather events like tornados.

Pennoni said three tornados were reported in Delaware County in 1973, 1992 and 1993. Additionally, 15 tornados were reported in Montgomery County between 1956 and 2003.

Pennoni also presented aerial photos of each proposed site, with a radius drawn in red around areas or “fall zones” that could be affected if a billboard partially or totally collapsed.

Heavily traveled sections of Lancaster Avenue, Old Lancaster Avenue, and West Chester Pike, traversed by up to 50,000 vehicles per day, appeared vulnerable.

Pennoni also expressed concern for pedestrian traffic, utility lines, residential properties and businesses within range....Viola presented more detailed information regarding traffic safety issues, noting that between Jan. 2007 and Jan. 2010 a total 786 traffic accidents occurred along the Haverford section of West Chester Pike, with 152 involving injuries. Police issued 3,369 traffic citations or warnings and made 52 DUI arrests, Viola said.

Lancaster Avenue had 87 total accidents.

Three pedestrian accidents occurred on the Pike and three on Lancaster Avenue, with a fatality in 1999.

High volumes of traffic along both roadways, back-ups and congestion from the Blue Route, and drivers illegally passing on shoulders give police ongoing cause for concern, Viola said.

Viola testified that inattention or distraction cause major problems in such conditions...Describing the billboards as "visual garbage" and ineffective advertising, Susan Koma said she would not set foot in any business that signed on with B.I.G.

Deborah Hodgson said the billboard at 1330 West Chester Pike would flash into her 9-year-old daughter's window, while Joshua Shale concluded the issue had more to do with ethics than legalities.

"Are the many people who own homes and live here to be outweighed by the desire of very few to make extra money?" he asked. Such an outcome would be "immoral, unethical, and un-American," Shale said.

The hearing was continued to 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at Lynnewood Elementary School.

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L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers/Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.–Jean Jacques Rosseau. The Social Contract, 1762

I will be there Carla and I will try to bring as many as I can muster!

BTW - You really have a talent with that graphics program......soooooooooo funny!!!