City to block ‘junk trailer’ billboards
Dilapidated truck trailers, decked out with advertising and parked in fields adjacent to roads and highways, are now prohibited. The city’s sign bylaw has outlawed them for years, but 30 months ago city council ordered staff to “stand down” on enforcement against these trailer/billboards so officials could investigate how other municipalities deal with them.
Turns out, none of the 25 municipalities surveyed allow signs or advertising on stationary trailers, though three do not have any direct prohibition. So last week council rescinded its “stand down” order. “These ones that are left in fields are typically trailers that are no longer roadworthy, so somebody’s parked it out there and it becomes stationary and ... semi-permanent,” chief building official John Revell said Monday. He said bylaw enforcement officers will now respond to complaints about these trailers. If they’re contravening the sign bylaw, the property owner will be issued an order to remove them. If they’re not removed, the city would take the owner to court. “It’s a blight, you end up with these old truck trailer bodies parked around with signs on them to use them as a type of billboard,” said Revell.
“We don’t allow junked cars to languish on somebody’s front yard. Why would we allow a junk trailer just to sit on a property?”
The original “stand down” order was issued by council after the city received complaints about a particular trailer out in a field. After investigating, officials decided it didn’t comply with the sign bylaw and issued an order to remove it.
The owner of the property, who also owned the trailer, pushed back, calling the mayor’s office and complaining that other communities allow it. The issue ended up going to council and council issued the “stand down” order while research was conducted.
The final report was done quite some time ago, but only recently made it onto a council agenda. The city ’s sign bylaw specifically prohibits signs and advertising on these trailers, if they’re not used “in daily service as a means of transport.”
One of the more prevalent users of these trailers is London-based Farhi Holdings, which has placed them on properties it hopes to develop such as its land on County Road 42 near the site of the proposed acute care mega hospital. An attempt to reach someone at Farhi was not successful on Monday. But Farhi isn’t the only one to use trailers in this way, Revell noted. He said the city hasn’t had any recent complaints about these trailers. But there are complaints on file, and continuing to “stand down” could result in more of them cropping up, according to his report.
“Due to their large size, trailers signs are considered a form of urban blight and something that would be undesirable,” the report says, adding that the trailers themselves are often in “poor or unsightly condition.” Outgoing Ward 9 Coun. Hilary Payne said he has always disapproved of these “junk trailers” towed out into a field and left to rot. “First of all they’re ugly and just don’t look right, and secondly they ’re against the bylaw,” he said. “Bottom line, if there’s a bylaw against it, it should be enforced.” Revell said on issues like this, his department largely only investigates when there’s a complaint, usually made by calling 311.