Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
ELECTRONIC BILLBOARD PROPOSAL ROILS RESIDENTS
TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP >> Some residents have raised concerns about a proposed electronic billboard for the northeast corner of Routes 30 and 252 in Paoli. More than 2,000 people have signed a petition opposing the project proposed by Catalyst Outdoor.
The Board of Supervisors has not taken any action on the plan, as yet.
Thaddeus Bartkowski, Catalyst CEO, spoke to the Board of Supervisors and public in September and October, presenting a plan for the monumentstyle billboard, which would replace a static billboard presently at the site. However, the Clockworks building, circa 1900 and designed by architect R. Brognard Okie, would be razed. The building was built to replicate a toll house which was originally located at the spot.
In remarks to the BoS, township solicitor Vincent Donohue, said that Catalyst told the township its ordinance governing billboards is “defective to the point of being illegal” and the company “fully intended to commence litigation.”
The township is currently in settlement negotiations with Catalyst. Company officials did not respond to a call for comment.
At the meeting, Bartowski described the new sign as “a permitted use.” The billboard would employ new technology using surface diodes that is unlike what is available in other locations in the Philadelphia area, he said.
The lights will adjust to
conditions and be lower at night, he said.
The monument billboard will have a reflecting pool and a wall of “living plants” behind it that change with the seasons, and evergreens screening it from the Amtrak train lines at its rear. Catalyst would also escrow money for upkeep for the landscape so officials could be certain that it will be maintained, he said.
Pattye Benson, president of the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust, has been blogging about the issue, circulated the petition and a GoFundMe campaign for yard signs.
She noted the property is under a 30-year lease agreement with Catalyst signed in 2016 so there would be “no additional revenue to the township” from the billboard.
She’s heartened by opposition from the residents.
“No, it’s not a done deal,” said Benson. With state Rep. Warren Kampf and
his opponent Melissa Shusterman both opposed to it, “there will be a major uprising,” said Benson.
“I have never seen such a full immediate absolute response to anything before,” Benson said. “There is $17 million in the (township) fund balance. It’s not like this is a poor township.”
Benson said that Phoenixville went to court to defend its ordinance from Catalyst and won.
“They go in and threaten lawsuits,” said Benson, about the billboard company. “Phoenixville, our neighbor, fought back a few years ago and the whole thing got thrown out in Chester County Courts.”
However, Donohue said the Phoenixville case was predicated on “a different set of facts.”
Benson is also concerned about safety as drivers might be distracted by the sign and slow down to read the sign.
“That is the busiest intersection in the township where this is being proposed,” she said. “It should be on a freeway or a highway.”
Benson has some experience opposing the demolition of historical buildings. Benson and other residents successfully mounted a campaign to save the Old Covered Wagon Inn at the other end of the township, when it was threatened to be demolished by a new CVS store. Benson noted that Tredyffrin still does not have an ordinance that protects its historic properties.
Donohue, who said that he is negotiating with Catalyst on behalf of his client, the township, said any agreement will be approved at a public meeting. Property owners that surround the Clockwork site have all been notified of the proposal, Donohue said.
“The public will have plenty of notice,” he said. And, debunking a rumor, he said that no public funding is involved in the project, he said.
When asked to comment about the billboard, BoS Chairwoman Heather Greenberg, said that because it’s “a pending legal matter” she could not comment and instead referred a reporter to Donohue.