SCRUB in the News
No Bees in the Inquirer,
September 17, 2007Since taking over The Philadelphia Inquirer and
the Philadelphia Daily News last year, Brian P. Tierney, chief
executive of Philadelphia Media Holdings, has been encouraging his
advertising department to be creative in its use of promotions.
Bee ad for building dropped,
September 15, 2007
Stung by community opposition, a pun-inspired Brian Tierney, chief of
the company that owns The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, said
yesterday that he would no longer seek city permission to allow the
placement of a giant inflatable bee and banners on the Inquirer and
Daily News Building to advertise a Jerry Seinfeld movie.
Building ad swatted. Why?
Bee-cause, September 15, 2007
To bee or not to bee? That was the question.
Answer: Not.
A plan to temporarily drape the Inquirer-Daily News
Building with a massive advertisement for the film Bee Movie
was in doubt yesterday, after community groups denounced the
effort, calling it "garish" and "shocking."
Neighbors stung by papers' bee
blitz, September 12, 2007
To create buzz for "Bee Movie," PMH president Brian
Tierney wants to "have some fun" at Broad and Callowhill
streets.
The
Felling of the Hoagie City Billboard, September 12,
2007
The big billboard at 40th and
Lancaster was everyone's poster child for urban blight.
Hiding the historic façade of the West Philadelphia
Title and Trust Bank, it promoted sneakers and booze,
and depressed the neighborhood for more than 50 years.
Ads in the Digital Age,
September 6, 2007
Digital billboards are not making their Philadelphia
debut without controversy, however. Critics argue that the giant
internally illuminated signs with rapidly changing facades pose a real
safety hazard in an era when driver distractions like cell phones, video
screens and fast food routinely contribute to havoc on the roads.
Neighbors hope to pull digital
billboards, September 4, 2007
Mark Legan has enjoyed his quiet, leafy neighborhood for 12 years,
until someone threw a switch and filled his nights with bright, colorful
lights.
Video Billboards Coming This Way,
August 21, 2007
Praised by police, criticized by scenic
conservationists and driver-safety groups, and hugely profitable for
their owners, digital billboards are about to enter the Philadelphia
area.
Digital Billboards to Debut in
City, August 22, 2007
Digital billboards - which rotate through
several static advertisements each minute - will
make their debut in the Philadelphia area this
week.
SCRUB's Statement on Digital
Billboards, August 18, 2007
SCRUB issues a press release in
response to ClearChannel's plans for digital billboards in Philadelphia.
Ads to Adorn Phila's New
Shelters, Benches, July 17, 2007
The City of Philadelphia is about to award a contract for a complete
street furniture program that will include advertising on bus shelters,
benches, trash cans and information kiosks.
A Tribute to Lady Bird Johnson,
July 13, 2007
SCRUB's Executive Director Mary Tracy pays tribute to Lady Bird
Johnson's vision of protecting and enhancing the nation's inherent
beauty.
SEPTA's ad decision angers zoning
board, June 14, 2007
Late in the day on June 12th, SEPTA and
their outdoor advertising contractor, Titan Outdoor, withdrew their
application before the ZBA for a giant wallwrap on SEPTA's
headquarters at 1234 Market Street. The last minute change
roused the ire of Zoning Board Chairman David Auspitz, who had
scheduled a special hearing for the matter. As a result, SEPTA
and Titan cannot revisit the ZBA with this proposal for one year.
When the Street Is for Sale,
January 12, 2006
With no slogans in sight, Sony's latest
marketing campaign for its PlayStation Portable (PSP) crept onto
city buildings with the uncanny likeness of authentic street art,
and almost as mysteriously. "There were theories that Microsoft
initiated the campaign to make Sony look bad," says Sheigh Crabtree,
West Coast editor of Popgadget.net. Instead, the bug-eyed "kidsters"
portrayed in the faux graffiti campaign, while they are the work of
real graffiti artists hired by Sony, are solely designed to hype the
company's portable media. In the ads, the caricatures use Sony's PSP
as a skateboard, remote control and even a jack-in-the-box (though
the hip quotient on the last is questionable). By
Natalie Hope McDonald, Philadelphia Citypaper
New York Councilman
Wants Sony to Pay for Ads, January 8, 2006
Sony
PlayStation Portable ads spray painted on New York buildings
have drawn the ire of a City Council member who claims they
are nothing but vandalism.Queens Councilman Peter Vallone
Jr. says the graffiti-style ad campaign is illegal, even
though the artwork appears on legitimate outdoor advertising
locations. He says it encourages vandalism, the New York
Post reported Sunday. Vallone is demanding Sony remove the
ads and donate $20,000 to the city's anti-graffiti programs.
By United Press International
Philadelphia Inquirer
Editorial: Fire This One, January 3, 2006
Apparently, the marketers at Sony Corp. aren't big
fans of
The Apprentice reality series. They
could have spared themselves a snafu if they'd
watched a Feb. 24 episode that featured one of their
products. Contestants vying to become mega-mogul
Donald Trump's apprentice were tasked with designing
murals painted on buildings in Harlem to advertise
Sony's Gran Turismo 4 PlayStation 2 video game. The
team led by New Jersey native Tara Dowdell lost, and
she was fired by The Donald, after a focus group of
Harlem residents complained that their
hip-hop-inspired mural stereotyped inner-city life.
By Inquirer Editorial Board
Sony Draws
Reproach Over Graffiti Style Ads, January 2,
2006
Graffiti and billboards are sensitive topics in
this densely packed city, where municipal officials
and community groups have joined forces in recent
years to crack down on advertisers that had
blanketed low-income neighborhoods with ads for
beer, liquor and action films. The city prides
itself on the hundreds of murals that decorate walls
and buildings once smeared with graffiti. In
addition, Mayor John Street has waged a campaign to
clean up the city, mounting programs to erase
graffiti, clean up vacant lots and tow abandoned
cars. By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times
Graffiti
Artists Attack Sony Ads, December 30, 2005
San Francisco graffiti artists are denouncing a
series of spray-can pieces of cuddly, bug-eyed kids
that have appeared on walls around The City in
recent months, in what city officials are calling a
“war” between the artists and a major corporation.
The portraits, which feature the kids licking,
riding and otherwise engaging with portable video
game systems, are a stealthy series of “guerilla
marketing” advertisements for Sony’s PlayStation
Portable, or PSP. The pieces do not feature a Sony
logo or other identifying marks and have caused
graffiti artists to cry foul, charging that the
giant corporation is co-opting the art form for a
crass commercial purpose. Or, as one artist
succinctly scrawled over an advertisement: “FONY.”
By Justin Jouvenal, San Francisco Examiner
Controversial Sony Ads
Disappear, December 30, 2005
The graffiti ads placed by Sony Corp. in several
city neighborhoods to advertise its PlayStation
Portable game system have been painted over,
apparently by members of the community, city
officials said Friday. The city and anti-blight
campaigners had protested the presence of the
black-on-white cartoon characters riding the
PlayStation like a skateboard, licking it like a
lollipop or cranking it like a Jack-in-the-Box. The
stealth marketing campaign has quietly popped up in
San Francisco, New York and other large U.S. cities.
By Associated Press
Playstation
Graffiti Ads Spark Controversy, December 29,
2005
Sony Corp. scouted out an unusual place to
advertise its PlayStation Portable before the
holidays: the side of an abandoned building in a
gritty North Philadelphia neighborhood. The
black-on-white graffiti shows wide-eyed cartoon
characters riding the PlayStation like a skateboard,
licking it like a lollipop or cranking it like a
Jack-in-the-Box. But there's no mention of the Sony
or PlayStation brands ? nor any hint the wordless
display is an ad. The stealth marketing campaign has
popped up in San Francisco, New York and other large
U.S. cities. By Associated Press
Community groups criticize regulations,
Advocates say the city can do more to remove marketing, December 9, 2005
Community activists who testified in a recent Committee on Public Property
and Public Works hearing said the city can do more to regulate alcoholic
advertisements placed near areas frequented by children. This week, the
committee passed a bill proposal prohibiting outdoor advertisements of alcohol
products within 1,000 feet of any school, public playground, recreation or
child-care center or library. "This is a part of the comprehensive strategy by
this City Council to push legislation that creates quality of life issues
throughout our city,” said Councilman Darrell Clarke, who introduced the
measure. By Kwame Abasi
Patterson, Philadelphia Tribune
A Court of Rubes,
October 6, 2005
The ordinarily affable David Auspitz was red-faced and raging.
Two months ago, the Zoning Board chief had scheduled this special meeting to
deal with hundreds of illegal billboards that plaster mom-and-pop stores in poor
sections of the city. And now, Auspitz was beginning to look like the Baron of
Blight. Auspitz had cut the shadowy North Jersey billboard company a break.
After all, the company was represented by legendary real estate attorney, Carl
Primavera, reputedly beloved by the administration. By Bruce Schimmel, Citypaper.
City Again Orders Billboards' Removal,
September 30, 2005
The Philadelphia
Zoning Board of Adjustment yesterday gave the owner of 900 billboards 60 days to
either remove them or seek the city's approval to make them legal. In March, the
city ordered the owner of the billboards, PNE Media L.L.C., to remove them or
provide permits showing they were legal. Yesterday, during a heated Zoning Board
meeting, the board's chairman, David Auspitz, accused PNE of stalling. "The
process is now becoming insulting to the people of Philadelphia," Auspitz said.
Frank Nataro, a PNE co-owner, who operates out of
Union, N.J., was not at the meeting and could not be reached for comment. By
Anthony S. Twyman, The Inquirer
Baron of Blight?,
August 18, 2005
As head of the city's zoning board, David Auspitz says he's mindful about
being slammed in the press, especially for letting developers stuff mega-condos
into tiny neighborhoods. Now it appears he's trying to avoid some of the
blowback from yet another raging community issue: The blight caused by
unlicensed neighborhood billboards, those 6-by-12-foot posters plastered on many
corner stores in poor neighborhoods to showcase pricey shoes and cheap liquor.
The city's Department of Licensing and Inspections says they're illegal, all 895
of them. By Bruce Schimmel, Citypaper.
A New City Effort Seeks to Cut
Down on Billboards, May 22nd, 2005
Students at the Alexander Wilson Elementary School in West Philadelphia
could not miss the big sign across the street from their school hawking Smirnoff's
Twisted V raspberry-flavored vodka.
"Rollin' solo. Rollin' Deep. Now in 24 oz. size," blared the Smirnoff
ad, mounted until Thursday on the wall of a tattered neighborhood convenience
store at 46th Street and Woodland Avenue.
"It shouldn't be there," said Cynthia Settle, president of the school's
home and school association in an interview Wednesday. "They need to put
up more positive things instead of teaching kids to drink alcohol." By
Anthony S. Twyman, The Inquirer.
Billboard
Owners Hearing from City, March 31st, 2005
City and state agencies are working to crack down on the owners of illegal
signs and billboards in Philadelphia, according to Street administration officials.
Robert D. Solvibile, the acting commissioner for the city's Department of Licenses
and Inspections, said yesterday that his department had sent violation notices
to the owners of the 895 wall-mounted billboards in the city, demanding that
they be removed. Known as "eight-sheets," the 6-foot-by-12-foot billboards
are attached to buildings in many neighborhoods. By Anthony Twyman, The Inquirer.
A Banner
Award for his Chutzpah, March 6, 2005
"In the meantime, allow me
to offer my first Sammy to... tah-dah... Myron Berman...Common Pleas Judge Alan
K. Silberstein got tired of waiting for the wrap to come down. Last year, he
declared it a "public nuisance," gave Berman 30 days to remove it,
and fined his company $66,000 for failing to follow earlier court orders...Berman
finally did remove the advertising, though he kept the wrap itself up... That's
where it stayed until last week, when crews (working over the weekend) put up
a huge wrap for Makers Mark bourbon in the same spot. When I saw it, my jaw
dropped." By Tom Ferrick Jr., The Inquirer.
Home-rule Rights
Are Under Attack, February 11, 2005
"It was done in secret. It took
place in the middle of the night. It involved a theft. The victims were completely
surprised by the attack. Does it sound like a mugging? In a way, it was. Only
the mugger was the Pennsylvania Legislature. The victims were the citizens
of Philadelphia. What was stolen were their rights. It happened in late November,
just as the House and the Senate were about to adjourn for the year. And just
itching to get out of town. By Tom Ferrick Jr., The Inquirer.
Law
Favors Billboard Industry by Curbing Community Beefs, December 1, 2004
"Gov. Rendell will sign a bill
quietly amended last month on behalf of the state’s billboard lobby to limit
the rights of community groups in zoning cases, his spokeswoman confirmed yesterday.
“I’m very disappointed,” said anti-billboard activist Mary Tracy. “We
think the governor is sending a terrible message to lawmakers, endorsing an
abuse of democracy where legislation is passed without notice, without hearings,
without input.” By Dave Davies, The Philadelphia Daily News.
Sign of the Times:
A Selective Law, December 1, 2004
"Obviously, the billboard industry
wasn’t happy with those rulings. It couldn’t find redress locally
— Mayor Street vetoed an anti-SCRUB bill passed by Council.
So it went to the state legislature. The industry chiefs wanted the deck
stacked, so they couldn’t lose anywhere — not before the Zoning
Board, not before the courts. The process would be wired, from bottom to top.
And, at last, they have what they want. Thanks to the legislature and Gov. Rendell."
Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., The Inquirer.
There Goes the
Neighborhood Input, December 1, 2004
"In a city where planning too
often takes a backseat to insider wheeling and dealing, there are too few avenues
for citizen input as it is. It seems obvious that the legislature's immediate
targets were the advocates who hound billboard companies over ugly, illegal
signs." From an Editorial in The Inquirer
Limits on Zoning
Appeals Approved, December 1, 2004
"Gov. Rendell signed legislation
yesterday giving Philadelphia the power to increase fines for quality-of-life
code violations, at the cost of restricting city residents' right to challenge
zoning changes in court. Community activists had urged Rendell, the former mayor,
to veto the measure on the grounds that it would allow the billboard industry
and developers to run rampant in the city." Article by Thomas Fitzgerald,
The Inquirer.
A
Billboard Cover-up: Legislature Launches Sneak Attack on City, November
26, 2004
"THEY OUGHT TO be ashamed to call themselves representatives of
the people.
The state Legislature surely didn't represent the will of the people when, in
secret, in the waning hours of its session last week, it passed a law that removes
the right of taxpayers to make the city enforce its own zoning laws."
From an Op/Ed piece in The Philadelphia Daily News.
New rules change
outlook for SCRUB, November 24, 2004
"For years, Overbrook activist
Mary Tracy has been beating billboard companies in court, and politicians have
tried to put her out of business by eliminating her group's standing to challenge
zoning decisions.
When such moves arose in City Council and the state Legislature in the past,
Tracy always managed to rally community groups and defeat them.
But in Harrisburg, laws can change without a hearing, or even public notice."
Article by Dave Davies, The Philadelphia Daily News.
Zone this bill out
of our misery, November 24, 2004
"It was the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, based on the notion that projects
in one neighborhood can affect the entire city, that gave citizens rights in
such cases. That has stood as a right for 50 years.
The legislature just took it away at 5 on a Saturday morning - via a stealth
amendment, with no public hearings and no debate. Just like in a banana republic."
Article by Tom Ferrick Jr, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Behemoth Billboard Proposed For South Philly;
Whale of a Wall-Wrap Would Be Largest in Nation, April 2004
"The building's owner, Preston Ship & Rail, wants to
crown the Tidewater's mammoth concrete grain silos with five illuminated “wall
wrap” billboards, a total of 38,786 square feet of advertising, according to
the company's zoning application. That's four times the size of the largest
billboard in Times Square, and more than half the size of a football field.
Taken alone, the 14,446 square foot sign proposed for the Tidewater's southern
face would be the largest billboard in the United States. Added together, the
Tidewater's five signs would be larger than the largest billboard in the world,
a 34,080 square foot sign in Britain." Article by the Philadelphia
Independent.
Sign of Farewell to Big Billboard,
March 10, 2004
"Sisyphus has finally rolled a rock up the hill and gotten
it to stay up. Last week, Common Pleas Court Judge Alan K. Silberstein ordered
a huge wall-wrap plastered on a building at Seventh and Callowhill Streets in
Philly taken down, immediately and forthwith." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr.,
The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Judge Orders Phila. Wall Wrap Scrapped,
March 5 , 2004
"In an unusual move, a judge has ordered that a huge illegal,
wall-wrap billboard at Seventh and Callowhill Streets, visible from the Vine
Street Expressway, be removed and the owner pay more than $65,000 in fines and
forfeit thousands more in advertising revenue from the sign. Anti-billboard
activists say it is the first time they know of that a judge has ordered a billboard
owner to forfeit ad revenue." Article by Anthony Twyman, The Philadelphia
Inquirer.
Billboard Foes See an Opening,
February 24, 2004
"Anti-billboard activists say the city now has an important
tool to do away with hundreds of illegal billboards plastered on buildings.
On Thursday, Common Pleas Court Judge Gene D. Cohen, no relation to the councilman,
ruled against NextMedia, saying that the 1995 agreement was illegal because
it had not been reviewed or approved by the city's Law Department." Article
by Anthony Twyman, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
It's a Bad Wrap, February
23, 2004
When it comes to billboards and wall wraps, Philadelphia is a zoning Wild West,
where enforcement of the law doesn't rise even to the level of "selective."
From an Op/Ed piece in The Philadelphia Daily News.
Placing Your Ad Here Mucks Up City Vision,
February 18, 2004
"In case you happened to be sleeping through the last decade,
Philadelphia now has a law that limits the number and size of billboards. So
when you hear that someone wants to put almost an acre of outdoor advertising
up on a Schuylkill pier - featuring five signs so big you could see them from
an airplane - you might be tempted to think there's no way we'd let it happen.
But you'd be wrong." Article by Carla Anderson, The Philadelphia Daily
News
It's Time for City to Wrap it Up,
September 19, 2003
"I've written in this space about how hard it is for civic
and neighborhood groups to get city government to do consistent, rigorous and
fair enforcement of the city codes:fire, zoning, building, etc. Allow me to
offer Exhibit A." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., The Philadelphia Inquirer
This is Not a Sign of Urban Renewal,
June 15, 2003
Now comes a company called American Land Recycling with an idea on how to
improve blighted buildings in gritty downtowns. "Explore how we can turn
brownfields and blighted real estate into exciting, aesthetically pleasing
outdoor media spectaculars," ALR says on its Web site. I decided to do just
that. Last week, I went to a special meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA)
to explore how the Exton-based firm wants to apply its concept to Philadelphia.
Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., The Philadelphia Inquirer
Winners in court, losers in Phila.,
July 17, 2002
"Let's play a game called "You Lose." It's very
popular in Philadelphia. It begins in 1999, with Conrail applying to the city's
Department of Licenses and Inspections to build four billboards along property
it owns adjacent to I-95 and Franklin D. Roosevelt Park in South Philly..."
Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., The Philadelphia Inquirer
Public opposition forces withdrawal
of state zoning bill, July 3, 2002
"Philadelphia community activists notched another victory
last week in their effort to preserve the right of all citizens to legally challenge
zoning decisions..." Article by Julian Walker, The Northeast Times
If at first you fail, try a different
pol, June 26, 2002
"And here I thought Yasir Arafat had my annual Craven Persistence
Award all locked up. But along comes the billboard industry to make a run for
it. When last we left the industry, it was licking its wounds over the defeat
of Council Bill 629..." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., The Philadelphia Inquirer
Tacony claims small victory in
billboard battle, May 8, 2002
"The Tacony Civic Association, with the assistance of an
anti-billboard activist group, has scored a legal victory in its efforts to
thwart the spread of the towering ads in the neighborhood..." Article by
Julian Walker, The Northeast Times
Groups' study says many city billboards
illegal, March 1, 2002
"Billboards are everywhere. In fact, so pervasive are the
huge, picturesque advertisements on the city's urban landscape, their presence
may not fully strike the consciousness of the passersby below..." Article
by Elaine Welles, The Philadelphia Tribune
Billboard opposition steps up,
April 28, 2002
"Upper Southampton residents form a new organization to
fund legal appeals over billboards and advance a state ban..." Article
by Alison Hawkes, The Courier Times
Study: Many city billboards illegal
-Groups want them removed, February
27, 2002
"Two anti-billboard groups released a study yesterday suggesting
that many of the thousands of billboards erected all over Philadelphia may be
illegal..." Article by Mark McDonald, Daily News
Renegades of the Billboard World,
February 27, 2002
"I try to be cynical, kids, but it is tough to keep up.
I have reported on the issue of billboards for years. If you asked me how many
were in Philadelphia and how many of them were illegal, I would have replied
thusly: I estimate there are 3,000 billboards in the city and about 30 to 35
percent percent are illegal. It turns out I was wrong. A study of billboards
in two Philadelphia neighborhoods released yesterday indicates that my guess
would have been way too low..." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., Philadelphia
Inquirer
More SCRUB-Bub,
February 28-March 7, 2002
"Most people think the word 'blight' belongs to Mayor Street,"
Councilman David Cohen intoned. "It belongs to SCRUB." Article by
Daniel Brook, City Paper
Study Finds Many City Billboards Are Illegal,
February 26, 2002
Karen Adams, KYW Newsradio 1060
Philly Wraps, February
20, 2002
"Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight, or SCRUB, which
is about to release a study on illegally placed billboards in West Philadelphia
and the Northeast, keeps fighting those pesky out-of-towners..." Article
by Solomon Jones, Philadelphia Weekly
Courts Give Philly a Sign: No more Billboards
that break the law, December 12,
2001
"Now, three court victories won by the community group
SCRUB (the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight) underscore a different message:
The city must begin to enforce its own law. The Zoning Board of Adjustment no
longer will get away with granting variances so obviously at variance with Philadelphia
code 14-1604. In the past year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined
to hear appeals of three decisions by the Commonwealth Court reversing such
variances." Editorial, Daily News
Sign Language,
December 6-13, 2001
"The Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) has
won two significant victories this past week against billboard proponents and
the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) - one involving FDR Park and what would
have been four double-faced signs, the other an enormous wall wrap on a building
on North Seventh Street..." Article by Jenn Carbin, City Paper
Street vetoes Council bill on zoning:
Submits his idea for compromise, October 19, 2001
"For the third time in two weeks, Mayor Street has vetoed
a City Council bill, this one a proposal that would have given the billboard
industry and developers a leg up in zoning appeals. In political terms, Street
sided with community activists and the good government crowd against powerful
industry interests with political connections to his own administration."
Article by Mark McDonald, Daily News
Street kills bill limiting appeals on
zoning, October 19, 2001
"Saying he was responding to the wishes of a coalition
of community organizations, Mayor Street yesterday vetoed a controversial City
Council bill that would have limited the right to appeal land-use decisions."
Article by Clea Benson, Philadelphia Inquirer
All Nice and Legal, Maybe,
October 7, 2001
"Speaking of pumpkins, there is City Council. In a vote Thursday,
it passed Bill 629, a pet project of DiCicco pere. The bill would prohibit all
but neighbors who live next to a project from challenging zoning decisions in
the courts. Right now, any taxpayer has standing. The anti-billboard group SCRUB
has used this provision to successfully challenge court billboard decisions made
by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the five-member board that rules on zoning
matters in Philly." Article by Tom Ferrick, Jr. , Philadelphia Inquirer
Council OKs DiCicco Bill on Zoning,
October 5, 2001
In a move that stunned dozens of community activists in attendance,
City Council yesterday narrowly approved a bill effectively barring citywide citizens'
groups from court action on local zoning disputes. Councilman Frank DiCicco's
bill was targeted in part at anti-billboard activists who had sued to remove signs
in a variety of communities." Article by Dave Davies.
Council's Pro Blight Plan,
October 5, 2001
We can't remember a proposed law that inspired such nearly unanimous
community opposition. Over 100 neighborhood, environmental and historic preservation
groups worked against the bill with letter writing campaigns, community meetings,
and neighborhood newspaper articles." Editorial, Daily News.
Warning! Angry Constituents Ahead!,
June 21–28, 2001
"Warning! Angry Constituents Ahead!" Article by Gwen
Shaffer, Philadelphia City Paper
Little League,
June 7–14, 2001
"City Council debates over who gets to protest zoning decisions..."
Article by Gwen Shaffer, Philadelphia City Paper
An obscene attack on citizens' rights,
May 30, 2001
"Who is behind 629? The billboard industry, which is furious
because it keeps losing zoning cases in the courts to civic activist Mary Tracy
and her anti-billboard group, SCRUB. It wants her out of the picture,
and it has enlisted its friends on Council - Frank DiCicco and Joan Krajewski
- to do the deed. Instead of amending the billboard law, DiCicco and Krajewski
dreamed up Bill 629, a broad-brush denial of citizens' rights to free speech
and due process." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., Philadelphia Inquirer.
Throwing Stones From a Glass House,
March 22–29, 2001
"During a March 12 hearing on Bill 629, the legislation
that would gut taxpayers’ rights to appeal zoning board decisions, Councilman
Frank DiCicco interrogated anti-billboard activist Mary Tracy about who contributed
money toward her efforts..." Article by Gwen Shaffer, Philadelphia City
Paper
Dollar Sign, March 22–29, 2001
"Rather than change current zoning regulations, Councilman
Michael Nutter says the city ought to inforce the laws on the books. He’s
calling for hearings into billboard permitting..." Article by Gwen Shaffer,
Philadelphia City Paper
Billboard bill is not a good sign,
March 18, 2001
"… I don't blame the folks at Bell for wanting the
billboard. It brought in thousands in rent. And I don't blame [Councilman Jim]
Kenney for lobbying for his constituents. But if that lobbying results in a
bad decision that subverts the law, I want to preserve citizens' right to challenge
the law in the courts if they have the time, the money and the patience. …
I don't need protection from the groups that sue. I need protection from Jim
Kenney." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., Philadelphia Inquirer
Rather Unappealing, March
15–22, 2001
"Community associations, businesses and advocacy groups
could lose the right to appeal development projects before the city’s Zoning
Board if City Council approves a significant amendment to the law..." Article
by Gwen Shaffer, Philadelphia City Paper
Bill resides in a zone of its own,
March 14, 2001
"What the bill does is deny the right of "any taxpayer"
- as the law now states - to challenge in the courts zoning decisions made by
the city on projects large and small. Only neighborhood groups close to the
project will be allowed to retain standing..." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr.,
Philadelphia Inquirer
Billboards at heart of zoning bill,
March 12, 2001
"The measure limits the role of nonresidents in zoning
disputes, including those involving the big signs...A City Council committee
today will consider a bill that would limit the ability of nonresidents to intervene
in neighborhood zoning disputes. The bill is conceived as a way of keeping activist
groups, such as the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB), a citywide
anti-billboard organization, from blocking efforts by billboard companies that
want to put up commercial signs in areas not zoned for them..." Article
by Clea Benson, Philadelphia Inquirer
Activists SCRUB billboards -- Industry
wants zoning-rulings appeals nixed, March 12, 2001
"Under the Zoning Code, any aggrieved party or any taxpayer
can appeal any Zoning Board of Adjustment decision to the courts. And those
opposed to the spread of billboards, like Mary Tracy and her organization, the
Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB), say they intend to keep filing
appeals..." Article by Joseph R. Daughen, Philadelphia Daily News
Now, a message about billboards,
January 21, 2001
"...in the last year local courts have knocked down more
than a dozen Rendell-era ZBA-approved variances for billboards - including one
deal that would have allowed a company to erect eight boards on Water Department
property." Article by Tom Ferrick Jr., Philadelphia Inquirer
That’s a Wrap!, January
11–18, 2001
"Dozens of offices, high-rises and hotels sit smack dab
in the middle of Times Square. Yet it isn’t building facades that dominate
the landscape. Instead, attention is drawn to the giant advertisements, or "wallscapes"
as they are often called, that blanket these buildings..." Article by Gwen
Shaffer, Philadelphia City Paper
Board to Death, August
5–12, 1999
"Will the city continue to flagrantly ignore its own laws
in order to make rich business owners even richer?" Article by Gwen Shaffer,
Philadelphia City Paper
Signs Sealed and Delivered,
July 1–8, 1999
"Billboard opponents are wondering why the city continues
to ignore its own laws..." Article by Gwen Shaffer, Philadelphia City Paper
Civic Groups Can Appeal to Fight Billboards,
Court Rules, April 10, 1999
"...Commonwealth Court has ruled that groups and individuals
can be entitled to legal standing in zoning matters even if they are not neighbors
to the property. They just have to be taxpayers, according to the decision handed
down this week in Harrisburg." Article by Rita Giordano
Hall End Notes, November
19–26, 1998
"...At issue was Councilman Michael Nutter's bill that
would prohibit the erection of billboards on city property unless they are authorized
by City Council first..." Article by Mark Naymik Philadelphia City Paper
Signpost Shenanigans, October
15–22, 1998
"Zoning hearings are not supposed to be this much fun...Big
business wants more signs near the Walt Whitman.." Article by Mark Naymik
Philadelphia City Paper
Backing Billboards, August
27 -September 3, 1998
"The mayor quietly strikes a deal with sign company to
erect billboards on city property..." Article by Mark Naymik Philadelphia
City Paper
All Signs Point to a Sordid Deal,
September 18, 1998
"The law calls for the removal of illegal boards, but hardly
any have come down. The law calls for each billboard to display a city license
number, but virtually none do. The law calls for the companies to pay a $100
annual fee for each legal board, but the city has never made a serious effort
to collect it." Article by Tom Ferrick, Jr. Philadelphia Inquirer
