Will this be suggested at tonight's revenue generating meeting?

'Sore thumb' billboard in Castle Shannon draws much attention from Mt. Lebanon

Thursday, April 07, 2011

By Kaitlynn Riely, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette

The new billboard on Mt. Lebanon Boulevard in Castle Shannon.

If the job of a billboard is to attract attention, then the one installed recently in front of the building at 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd. is working overtime.

The 180-square-foot billboard was erected in a commercial zone of Castle Shannon sometime in early to mid-March.

Not long after, a blogger in neighboring Mt. Lebanon took notice. Fake Lebo, the anonymous satirist of all things related to Mt. Lebanon, posted a picture of the billboard on a Facebook page and wrote, "If you hate this, 'like' this."

More than 200 people pressed the "like" function on Facebook to signal their dislike of the billboard, and since then, Facebook users have posted comments ranging from the amused to the horrified on Fake Lebo's pages.

"Built to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake ... or an F2 tornado," wrote one person.

"This is a disgrace to our community, it's sooo ugly!" wrote another.

A Photoshopping frenzy followed, with Facebook users suggesting messages for the billboard.

Last week, a real message went up on the actual billboard, for R&R Masonry Restoration, a Bethel Park-based company.

This is the first time the company has done a billboard advertisement, said Tony Reber, the company's owner. He said he was trying out a three-month contract for the advertising space because the billboard is in a good location.

"It is eye-catching," he said.

Many of those whose eyes it is catching are calling Castle Shannon code official Paul Vietmeier, telling him they don't like it and asking how the borough could have allowed the billboard to be constructed.

He said he tells callers there was a process that was followed, many hearings held and it was all advertised to the public.

But he said he also disliked the billboard, and rejected the original plans.

"There's no need for these signs," he said. "It just doesn't fit in our community."

Genesis Outdoor Advertising, a company based in Youngstown, Ohio, approached HFT Holdings, which owns the building at 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd., more than two years ago, asking to rent space to put up a billboard, said owner Dan Remely.

Mr. Remely agreed to it, and Genesis applied for a permit to erect a billboard at that space, as well as at 325 Mt. Lebanon Blvd., a commercial property owned by Noonan Realty Associates LLC.

Mr. Vietmeier denied both permits, saying billboards were not permitted in Castle Shannon because the borough's zoning ordinances lacked a provision to allow them.

Genesis appealed the denial, seeking either an exception to permit the sign or a determination that the ordinance violated First Amendment rights to free speech.

Hearings were held, and the zoning hearing board issued a decision in favor of Genesis. But the borough took the case to Common Pleas Court, asking the court to reverse the decision.

The court did not, so last month the first billboard went up at 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd. Another is planned for the 325 Mt. Lebanon property, Mr. Vietmeier said, though he didn't know when it would be constructed.

Genesis originally planned for the billboard to be 360 square feet, but after the hearings, agreed to reduce the size to 198 square feet.

Calls to Tom Cregan, listed on zoning permit documents as the owner of Genesis, were not immediately returned.

A new Castle Shannon ordinance now allows properties to erect the off-premises advertising signs.

According to the H-Squared Properties Inc. website, 12,000 cars pass the property at 250 Mt. Lebanon Blvd. each day.

But the billboard is probably more noticeable to people who enter the parking lot or are business owners in the property, such as John Carbonara. co-owner of restaurant Carbonara's. He saw the sign being constructed one weekend morning when he pulled in at work.

"My first reaction is, 'This sign belongs on an expressway,' " he said.

He said his customers have been commenting negatively about it since it was built and asking why it was approved, and said he had expressed his dissatisfaction with it to Mr. Remely.

"It sticks out like a sore thumb," he said.

Kaitlynn Riely: kriely@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707.

First published on April 7, 2011 at 5:29 am

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11097/1137473-55.stm#ixzz1IqjrLMla