Downtown bulletin boards would help clean up poster mess

A local resident who called The Examiner’s newsroom last week told us about the reaction a guest had had while visiting Peterborough’s downtown: What a mess, the visitor said.

The idea had likely been to showcase our downtown, to show off its eclectic restaurant scene, unique shops and calming green spaces. However, the visitor noted the posters glued or taped to utility poles. One local company had covered a couple of poles with its flyers, overloading passersby with its logo. Others advertised concerts from months ago. In some cases, several layers of peeling, faded posters turned a utility pole into a ragged, shaggy eyesore.

“Is that even legal?” the caller asked.

Good question, and one with a complex answer. It used to be illegal to attach posters to city-owned property, including utility poles. The city implemented the bylaw in 1937 because the roadside advertising was considered to be a distraction for motorists. The advertisers also weren’t paying to use the space – a key moneymaker of the advertising industry, even then – so that may have been a factor.

However, local musician Ken Ramsden successfully challenged that law after he was fined $108 (twice) in 1988 for putting up posters promoting a performance. He challenged the city, saying the charges were infringing on his freedom of expression, and the case went to the Supreme Court, which sided with Ramsden.

The city’s compromise, in 1994, involved allowing postering on seven specific poles downtown, and the addition of 17 community bulletin boards.

That worked, to a degree; posters showed up on other poles, but fewer of them, and they were easier to remove.

But that has changed. Seven of those original 17 bulletin boards have lost to downtown construction or renovation and never replaced. Others are in out-of-the-way locations; one, for example, sits in front of a vacant lot on the northeast corner of Hunter and Water. That isn’t quite the prime downtown location poster-makers want.

As a result, we’re back to where we were in 1988, with local musicians and small businesses putting up their posters wherever they think they’ll be seen. This, as our caller noted, has led to a mess along downtown sidewalks.

Terry Guiel, executive director of the DBIA, told The Examiner last week that he considers them “pollution,” and tears them down when he sees them. The DBIA’s new One City cleanup crew has been instructed to do the same. But that could turn into a time-consuming, never-ending task.

Town Ward. Coun. Dean Pappas said he’d talk to city staff about getting the seven lost bulletin boards, including one in front of the newly renovated library, replaced. The city must keep up its end of the bargain, he said.

He’s right. This should happen as soon as possible. But the city can take it even further, adding more bulletin boards at busy locations to help small businesses take advantage of increased pedestrian traffic downtown. There’s a new farmers’ market downtown. There’s a new public square about to be built. At the same time, there are small businesses and startups and bands who rely on this kind of advertising to attract new business, and that should be encouraged. More (and more visible) bulletin boards would help them accomplish that without contributing to the “mess” in our city’s downtown.