by TRC_Admin | Jul 27, 2019 | Billboards, Building Wrap, Technology
Photo: Atlanta in Town
“Midtown stakeholders mobilize against massive digital billboards”
“An effort to digitize two of Atlanta’s most prominent billboards has been met with a legal challenge.
In February, the City of Atlanta’s Office of Buildings issued permits that would allow Tazmedia Group, which owns the massive advertising signs on the side and top of a 1960s office building at 1655 Peachtree Street, to upgrade the billboards to digital changing-message signs.
The Trivision billboards, which adorn the same building as a recognizable metal peach, are marketed by the owner as the ‘world’s largest,’ passed by hundreds of thousands of commuters daily on Interstate 85.
But a few parties who could be impacted by the potential glow of the gigantic signage are calling foul…
‘They did not comply with the ordinance, they were illegally permitted, they exceed the allowed sign sizes by several multiples, and they are general-advertising signs masquerading as business-identification signs,’ say a summary of the BZA appeal…
The appellants now say that allowing the signs to be converted to LED light boards would be ‘further rewarding the sign owner’s illegal conduct.'”
— Collin Kelley, Atlanta in Town
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by TRC_Admin | Jun 30, 2017 | Building Wrap
Photo: Sebastián Ballestas, Miami Herald
“…If you’re trying to find the bold new Zaha Hadid-designed exoskeleton high-rise on Biscayne Boulevard, it’s next to Ten Museum Park — more easily identifiable as the Sparkling Smart Water building.
In addition to residing in a multistory billboard, there are the blots on your bay view — the 1-800-411-PAIN sign erected by an accident-chasing law firm or the 3,375-square-foot video screen that adorns AmericanAirlines Arena.
‘Visual pollution ruins what makes Miami beautiful — palm trees, blue skies, interesting architecture,’ said Peter Ehrlich, co-founder of Scenic Miami, which has advocated for tighter regulation of signs. ‘Tourists don’t come here to see giant ads. Residents are not asking for them. Yet they are in-your-face inescapable.’
The city limits the number of mural ads on the sides of buildings to 45. They can be as big as 10,000 square feet. They have not proliferated, but a few have moved to larger or more visible buildings.
‘The outdoor advertisers are constantly jockeying to get on a bigger wall closer to a highway in order to reach more eyeballs,’ said Ehrlich, who calls them ‘monster murals.’
Developer Craig Robins wants to prevent the infiltration of mural signs into the Design District. The last thing he wants to see are tacky ads clashing with glamorous boutiques, modern art and new urban plazas.
‘He’s got a vision, a sophisticated vision,’ Ehrlich said. ‘He doesn’t want any chance of hemorrhoid cream or Estrella Insurance ads next to Tiffany and Cartier shops or a sculpture installation.’ Robins is seeking to protect the Design District from signage blight. He has proposed shrinking the zone in which mural ads are permitted by moving the north border six blocks south to Northeast 38th Street.
On July 8, Miami’s city commissioners are scheduled to hear from Robins, who is the major property owner in the district. Robins was also instrumental in the redevelopment of South Beach in the 1990s.
‘I’m not saying they’re inappropriate for all neighborhoods but we’re aspiring to a high level of art, design and architecture in the Design District,’ he said. ‘Rather than commercialize it, we want to make it a special place that is a source of pride for Miami.’
One existing ad space would be allowed to remain but new ads would be banned under the proposal. Like other property owners, Robins could rent out his prime wall space, much of which is visible from Interstate 95, to outdoor advertisers for tens of thousands of dollars a month. But Robins has commissioned artists to turn the sides of his buildings and a parking garage into ‘beautiful installations.’
‘If we took all our frontage and rented it out, it would be worth millions of dollars per year, but we’re not interested in marketing opportunities,’ he said. ‘The commission is usually sensitive when an idea is definitely for the betterment of the community.’
The city makes almost $4 million a year from fees charged to outdoor advertising companies such as Clear Channel, Outfront Media and Wagner that earn billions from businesses seeking to get their messages and products in front of consumers.
‘It’s another in a line of serial acts of municipal prostitution,’ said Dusty Melton, a Miami-Dade lobbyist and political consultant who co-authored the county’s sign code in 1985. The city regularly flouts the code with its interpretation of it and allows programmable LED billboards that are prohibited, he said.
‘No one has the political will to unplug these illegal billboards that are basically giant TVs on top of poles,’ Melton said. ‘There are probably 30 out there. The three on the Miami Children’s Museum are illegal.’ The city is discussing whether to raise its sign fees. One prime space that it rents out is on its own Miami River Center administrative building on Southwest Second Avenue and Fourth Street — a building that happens to house the code enforcement department…
‘Nothing is too massive,’ Ehrlich said. ‘Property owners are now asking architects to design buildings with large wall spaces available for advertising.’”
–Linda Robertson, Miami Herald
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by TRC_Admin | Apr 4, 2017 | Billboards, Building Wrap, Bus Bench, Highway Beautification, Interactive Advertising, Kiosk, Scenic Highways, Snipe Signs, Uncategorized
Photo: Leah Powell
Bill Brinton has spent a lifetime as a protector of unspoiled views. He has successfully battled local, state and national forces bent on visual assault caused by installation of outdoor advertising and other unsightly intrusions.
He believes in the power of citizens to take a stand for the irreplaceable resources that matter most. Because of his foresight, you can be part of a mobilized citizenry that ensures our scenic surroundings for generations to come.
Bill chose to mark the 30th anniversary of the successful Jacksonville City Charter Amendment banning new billboards and removing more than 1,400 existing billboards with the creation of the Scenic Jacksonville Endowment to Protect and Enhance Scenic Beauty in Jacksonville.
When fully funded, this endowment will enable Scenic Jacksonville — also celebrating its 30th anniversary — to continue its vital work to preserve the breathtaking views we cherish and provide support for new projects that enhance our much-loved home.
It is Bill’s vision to raise $300,000 for the endowment, which is held at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. His dream is to see it provide perpetual funding for the things he holds most dear: civic engagement, advocacy, and education.
He’s eager to involve the next generation by sponsoring photo and essay contests to instil a love of our natural surroundings in young citizens.
There is so much more we can do together if we rally around Bill’s visionary leadership and ultimate victory over unsightly signage.
For more information about the fund, please contact Nina Waters, President, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida at(904) 356-4483 or nwaters@jaxcf.org.
To contribute to the Scenic Jacksonville Endowment to Protect and Enhance Scenic Beauty in Jacksonville, go to jaxcf.org/donate and enter Scenic Jacksonville into the Search box.”
Save the Date: May 17 for a Celebration in Jacksonville
Visit the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
–Scenic Jacksonville
