Billboard planned for Dean Ave. lot

A review board grants permission to remove 18 large trees from the woods across from Dollar General.

Trees are slated to come down and a billboard to go up on the 2-acre wooded lot across from Dollar General on Dean Ave.

Arthur Outdoor LLC netted approval from the Rome-Floyd County Board of Adjustments to cut 18 trees deemed “significant” on the property at 1813 Dean Ave. Company president James Arthur Douglas said the room is needed for construction of a 24-foot-tall billboard and for visibility.

“It’s a high-traffic road and we think local businesses would like to have an affordable (advertising) option,” Douglas said.

As a Tree City USA designee, Rome has conservation regulations aimed at protecting large trees on undeveloped lots.

However, city arborist Brian Roberts said a number of the trees close to the road would have to be removed anyway, when a planned sidewalk is installed where foot-traffic has worn a path in the dirt.

“There’s going to be a conflict with the root systems in the critical zone along the right of way,” Roberts told the citizen board.

Of the 18 trees initially marked for saving with pink fluorescent tape, only the removal of an oak and a large pine “would make an aesthetic impact,” he noted.

Douglas said the company is aware the corridor is one of the gateways to the city of Rome. He said they would consider Roberts’ suggestions of landscaping around the base of the billboard or “raising the crown” of some trees by removing lower branches that would block the sign.

The sign would be lighted, Douglas said, but there are no plans to use moving LED lights that would disturb residents in the area.

Board of Adjustments members voted 5 to 1 to allow the tree removals, with Terry Williamson opposed.

The board unanimously approved a request from Wire Tech Ltd. to reduce the required setback to 28.2 feet from 30 feet on its property at 11 Westside Industrial Blvd.

The company, which also has a factory in Summerville, makes electrical wiring harnesses.

Owner Rich Fletcher said plans are to add 40,000 square feet to the existing building, and the variance is necessary to make the two sections line up evenly.