Senate Committee Sneaks Amendment Stripping Municipal Power to Regulate Billboards | July 06, 2008
Senate Committee Places Sneak Amendment onto HB 780 Stripping Municipal Power to Regulate Billboards that will strip the rights of Local Governments to regulate Billboard Industry.
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee indulged in late night mischief yet again. The Committee added a sneak amendment to HB 780 which is a bill amending the municipal planning code . HB 780 is expected to come back from the Senate on concurrence this morning (Wednesday) with amendments to help billboard companies circumvent local zoning.
This is an outrageous attempt to strip the rights of Pennsylvania residents and their local and municipal governments, planning commissions and zoning boards to regulate outdoor advertising signs.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is the same committee responsible for stripping away the rights of Philadelphia citizens to legally challenge zoning board decisions that violate the zoning code. Many community leaders remember the amendment to HB1954 in November which was also a sneak attachment during a midnight committee session at the request of the billboard industry.
As a result of that deception, South and West Philadelphia community groups were denied the right to appeal zoning decisions affecting their neighborhoods. A bill to restore the language has been languishing in a House committee for 3 1/2 years.
Clearly, the billboard industry has friends among our elected leaders! We cannot allow this to happen to our neighbors in suburban, rural areas and the City of Pittsburgh.
Inform your friends and call your state senators and representatives to alert them of this dishonest attempt to change a law that protects Pennsylvania's visual environment and the zoning rights of our local government.
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee indulged in late night mischief yet again. The Committee added a sneak amendment to HB 780 which is a bill amending the municipal planning code . HB 780 is expected to come back from the Senate on concurrence this morning (Wednesday) with amendments to help billboard companies circumvent local zoning.
This is an outrageous attempt to strip the rights of Pennsylvania residents and their local and municipal governments, planning commissions and zoning boards to regulate outdoor advertising signs.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is the same committee responsible for stripping away the rights of Philadelphia citizens to legally challenge zoning board decisions that violate the zoning code. Many community leaders remember the amendment to HB1954 in November which was also a sneak attachment during a midnight committee session at the request of the billboard industry.
As a result of that deception, South and West Philadelphia community groups were denied the right to appeal zoning decisions affecting their neighborhoods. A bill to restore the language has been languishing in a House committee for 3 1/2 years.
Clearly, the billboard industry has friends among our elected leaders! We cannot allow this to happen to our neighbors in suburban, rural areas and the City of Pittsburgh.
Inform your friends and call your state senators and representatives to alert them of this dishonest attempt to change a law that protects Pennsylvania's visual environment and the zoning rights of our local government.
Email or Call SCRUB at 215.731.1796 if you have any questions or if you have new information to share.
SCRUB, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is Philadelphia's public voice for public space. SCRUB's mission is to promote healthy, vibrant, beautiful public spaces throughout Philadelphia by using advocacy, public awareness and education, community mobilization and legal action.
For more information, visit www.urbanblight.org/