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!!!

Yes, this is the same night as some additional time will be made for St. Joe's University. Yes, it's the same night the same applicant (Bartkowski) with his legal representation from Kaplin Stewart also have a hearing in Springfield. Perhaps the timing is deliberate, perhaps we will never know. This interesting timing happened one of the other times this case was originally scheduled for. It doesn't matter. People need to attend this meeting as well. Remember, it is the billboard site closest in proximity to the proposed Haverford Township sites and spitting difference from other Haverford Township neighborhoods. This site will also affect Radnor Township residents. Please make the time and attend.

Right now this billboard isn't legal is it? If it becomes legal, who knows what it will become? Could it be lit? Could it become an LCD (or like a giant TV), which would be VERY distracting at crazy busy 5 Points intersection? It doesn't seem like you can control content either, so how do you know it would always be a Main Line Health ad and why do they need to advertise when that whole part of town IS the hospital anyway?

I will note that once upon a time I contacted the hospital to inquire as to the duration of their lease with the illegal sign and when it was over would they consider an alternate form of advertising that doesn't involve a billboard and never even received even the courtesy of an acknowledgement.

Let your conscience be your guide. If you don't like billboards, please make time for one hearing. If you live in bordering Haverford or Radnor Townships and people from Lower Merion have supported your neighborhoods over issues, if you can make the time to be present, please do.

I think the neighborhoods and small businesses around Five Points and the hospital have suffered enough over the years, don't you? I think we all should want to reduce visual blight like billboards cause, right?

EVEN IF YOU DON'T SPEAK, PLEASE SHOW UP TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR THOSE WHO WILL. Please, we need fewer billboards in our communities, not more. But the community needs to be present to show displeasure at this hearing.

Thanks

Zoning Hearing Board
Date: 4/22/2010 7:15 PM
Location: Township Administration Bldg - 2nd Floor Board Room
75 East Lancaster Ave
Ardmore, Pennsylvania 19003-2323
MEETING NOTICE
TOWNSHIP OF LOWER MERION
ZONING HEARING BOARD
Notice is hereby given that the Zoning Hearing Board of Lower Merion Township will hold a meeting as required by Lower Merion Code Chapter 155, as amended and codified by Ordinance 1802, at the Township Building, 75 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA, on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:15 PM, at which time there will be a hearing on the following cases.

Appeal No. 4204
Applicant: AdSmart Outdoor Advertising
Property: 766 Old Railroad Ave West, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
AKA: 762-764-766 Old Railroad Avenue West
(Election District #10). C 2 Commercial District
AdSmart Outdoor Advertising, Inc. is appealing the issuance of an enforcement notice from the Director of Building and Planning (6/19/2009) and a denial to rescind/determination letter from the Zoning Officer (10/30/2009) that an 8.5' by 34' vinyl off-premises wall sign, installed without a permit, cannot remain. The appellant is requesting a determination from the Zoning Hearing Board that the wall sign is a legal nonconforming use and can remain as a vested right, or alternatively, the appellant seeks a variance by estoppel from §155-93 C to allow the wall sign to remain.