Will the city continue to flagrantly ignore its own laws in order to make rich business owners even richer?
That question will be partially answered when Judge Stephen Levin issues a decision in two billboard proceedings heard in his courtroom Wednesday.
Two South Philly businesses are appealing decisions by the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment to deny their requests to erect commercial billboards. Allowing the signs to be installed would violate city code.
Mayor Ed Rendell has repeatedly supported zoning variances for the construction of billboards, contending that the economic benefits to the city outweigh the negative impact on quality of life for Philadelphians.
"A lot of times these variances are pushed through so quickly, people in South Philly don’t know what’s happening," says Mary Tracy, president of the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB).
Opposing construction of both billboards, along with SCRUB, are City Council President Anna Verna; Councilman David Cohen; the Center City Residents Association; and Friends of FDR Park.
The first appeal Levin heard was filed by a scrap metal and iron business called SPC Company Inc. The zoning board previously denied the company permission to build a freestanding, double-faced billboard on its property located at 2600 Penrose Avenue. The 14-foot by 48-foot sign would loom 41 feet above the ground, adjacent to an existing billboard.
The board’s decision cited that the bottom edge of the proposed billboard would illegally rest more than 25 feet above road surface, and that outdoor signs are prohibited within 560 feet of a bridge over the Schuylkill River.
SPC’s attorney, Carl Primavera, contends that "literal enforcement" of the zoning code will result in "undue hardship" for the company, while the requested zoning variance will have no "adverse" effect on the public.
The second court hearing centered around an appeal filed by Summit Real Estate. That company was denied a zoning variance to erect a double-faced, illuminated 20-foot by 60-foot billboard at 26 E. Oregon Avenue.
The zoning board based its denial on the fact that the sign would be within 500 feet of four existing billboards. It would also violate the city’s code by coming within 660 feet of entrance and exit ramps onto Interstate 95.
Not surprisingly, billboard king Primavera is also representing Summit. His reasons for appealing the zoning board’s decision are identical to those outlined for SPC’s appeal.