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It's a heady time for outdoor advertising companies in Philadelphia, with City Council expected to usher in a new plan for ads on city property and a Times Square-esque advertising district planned for Market East. But in South Philadelphia, where neighbors have been looking at a billboard owned by Keystone Outdoor Advertising Co. for 20 years now, it's a different story.
Last Thursday night at St. Richard School in South Philadelphia, lawyers, business people and roughly 50 concerned citizens sat down to discuss a billboard, ahead of a Zoning Board of Adjustments decision on the project this Wednesday. The billboard is the one that looms over Moyamensing Avene, advertising the Franklin Institute on one side (that faces the neighborhood, including homes, schools and businesses) and hawking The Oasis Premier Gentlemen’s Club on the other (facing the expressway). The billboard’s owner is looking to renovate the sign, which stands at 62 feet tall and 48 feet across, into a 90-foot-high, 60-foot-wide giant with LED illumination on one side.
The neighbors aren’t pleased. “I’m here to preserve the beauty and ensure the proliferation of this neighborhood,” said Keith Franchetti, a lifelong resident of Packer Park.
Dominick Cipollini, owner of this and 40 other billboards in the area, fielded hard questions from a frustrated crowd. Why did billboard need to be changed? (It's old and needs improvement?) Would it show adult content? (The owner promised to monitor the content on the LED side.) Was it hurricane proof? Would it emit radiation? Most of all, how does this benefit the community?
It’s a good question, and one neighbors apparently didn’t feel was adequately answered. As they filed out, most signed a petition by SCRUB, the anti-blight group, against the renovations.
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