Giant billboard to sit among front-yard flowers
May 16, 2009
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Jason Miller
Vanessa Lu
At the moment, the highlight of Oscar Rodriguez`s rented Etobicoke home is his flower garden, but that will all change when a giant illuminated billboard takes over the front yard.
The Etobicoke York community council this week approved the three-storey, nine-metre-high sign, even though city staff had recommended against it, saying it contravenes a policy prohibiting third-party signs in residential areas.
Rodriguez, 64, said the landlord told him about the sign six months after he and his family moved into the Keele St. home, in December 2007. He didn't think it would be approved so close to his home because the area is very windy.
"He didn't say what kind of sign," he said. "If it becomes a bother I will take off."
The community council voted 6 to 4 to waive the usual restrictions to allow Pattison Outdoor to put up the billboard, which will face southeast toward drivers heading north on Keele near Lawrence Ave.
The council did slightly reduce the sign's size from the original plan and ensured it would only be illuminated in the upper section. Staff were concerned the billboard would restrict natural light in the home, possibly cause a backdraft and increase snow accumulation on the roof.
Local councillor Frank Di Giorgio argued in favour of it, because of special circumstances.
"We're talking about a predominantly commercial area. Unfortunately, we have a single property in between essentially commercial properties," he said. "I fully expect that in the longer term there will be some assembly of properties."
Allowing the sign might be a catalyst for that, Di Giorgio said. "There's no question that the zoning should be commercial."
Rodriguez disputes that. He said that in his 30 years of living in the area, it has never been a hot spot for small business or development. He said an open lot across the street has been up for lease for years without a taker.
Councillor Doug Holyday, who voted against the variance, called the decision another example of the city not following its own rules.
"I appreciate this is an area that will probably eventually be commercial, but it isn't there yet," he said. "We don't want to set an example."
Meanwhile, North York community council voted to postpone, for up to a year, their decision on Astral Media Outdoor's request to convert a rooftop billboard on Avenue Rd. to a new digital format, with an image that changes every 10 seconds. Councillors decided that Astral, which operates about 800 signs in the city, would have to wait until the comprehensive citywide sign bylaw now in the works appears.
The digital image doesn't move or flash, said Astral vice-president Ron Hutchinson, whose company wants to put similar billboards at 10 locations. "It's a series of ads that change from one to another," he said. "There really is nothing revolutionary here and nothing to fear."
With files from Paul Moloney
Toronto Star