Warning! Angry Constituents Ahead!
Caution dominated City Council’s final session before summer recess, with sponsors of several controversial bills opting to hold them until fall. Votes were delayed June 14 on measures that would revamp the zoning appeals process, restrict street vending, fund a major blight initiative and ban smoking in restaurants.
Councilman Frank DiCicco apparently caved in to pressure from more than 70 community groups throughout the city that publicly opposed Bill 629. Last Thursday morning, DiCicco insisted he had 10 votes, enough to pass his bill amending the zoning appeals process. The proposal would require taxpayers who appeal zoning board decisions to prove they are "aggrieved." This term makes it difficult to have legal standing as a matter of right for anyone who doesn’t own property adjacent to the zoning matter being challenged.
DiCicco’s bill blatantly takes aim at the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB), a citywide advocacy group that fights billboards. But last Thursday, the councilman insisted it was his "colleagues" who turned the measure into a referendum on billboards by making "false accusations" about his motives.
"While there is no doubt that this bill would have passed today, I feel very strongly that this bill should not become law under a cloud of misunderstanding and a malicious campaign of misrepresentation," he said. "Special interests should not doubt my resolve that this bill will pass this fall, or that I will lead a communication onslaught this summer to ensure that citizens are not bamboozled and shouted down by those who would gain at the community’s expense."
But opponents of the measure suspect DiCicco held off for other reasons. Even council members intending to vote in favor of it were worried about the public backlash.
"People are not as enamored with outdoor advertising as he is," said SCRUB Director Mary Tracy. "People are tired of being treated as consumers. We all have a right to walk down the street without being hawked at."
Regardless, DiCicco has far from given up on trying to wallpaper Philadelphia with advertising. He promises to be back in the fall with an amendment to the city’s 1991 billboard law, which restricts the number and locations of signs.
Tracy and DiCicco met for an hour and a half on June 12 to talk about what that measure may look like. Tracy says she is open to working out a compromise.
"If we’re not enforcing a good bill, what’s the sense of it?" she asked. "To the extent that there may be some hope that the city would pass a new law and then actually enforce it, that would make me very happy."
DiCicco says he also plans to introduce a bill that would allow "wallwraps" to be hung across scaffolding while buildings undergo construction. In particular, DiCicco has mentioned allowing advertisers to drape these massive banners around City Hall during renovations, as a way of generating revenue for the city. During a council session earlier this month, DiCicco passed around photos depicting wallwraps on historic buildings in Europe. He characterized the huge banners as "very tasteful."