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BILLBOARD
CAN STAY
Downtown billboard can stay, city says
Montreal will not be forcing a local company
to remove the giant-screen television
billboard it has put up downtown, despite
changes to the city’s bylaws banning that
type of sign. City permits-department
spokesman Francois Lemay said yesterday
that after consulting with their legal
department, city officials decided they
would not ask Spotvision, the company
that installed the sign, to remove it.
“When they put up the sign they were not
in violation of the law so we cannot go
back and ask them to remove it now,” Lemay
said. The city’s executive committee decided
last week to close the loophole that allowed
Spotvision to install the sign in a second-floor
window at the corner of Drummond and Ste.
Catherine Sts. The 2-by-4 meter screen
runs 10-second ads every three minutes,
in full view of passersby. The city has
banned so-called “animated billboards”
for years, but only on the outside of
buildings. In this case the billboard
was installed inside a building so it
was not officially breaking the rules.
When they announced last week that they
will be closing the loophole by forbidding
such signs on the inside of buildings
as well, city officials justified the
ban by saying this type of sign can be
a hazard for motorists and a blemish on
the urban landscape.
READY TO FIGHT
The president of Spotvision, Mimo Kabbara,
said yesterday that he is pleased the
city has decided not to try to take the
sign down, because he was ready to fight
Montreal in court for the right to have
his sign up. “We had already consulted
with our lawyers and we were ready to
fight this,” he said. Still, the city
has effectively prevented Kabbara and
others from putting up any similar signs
in Montreal, a decision he called close-minded.
“Obviously something
like this shouldn’t go up in Old Montreal
or in a residential neighbourhood,”
Kabbara said. “But
there are certain areas of the city where
the signs should be allowed, like on Ste.
Catherine St.”
Kabbara also said the idea that his sign
should be targeted by the city as unsightly
is ridiculous, particularly considering
some of the notorious signs on Ste. Catherine
St. advertising for strip clubs. Kabbara
said: “All around
the city, and especially on Ste. Catherine
St., are hundreds of signs and giant advertisements
featuring half-naked women…What is more
degrading to our city’s image?” |
