[Durham INC] Attend the City Council Billboard Hearing Monday 7 pm

[Tom Miller]

Dear neighbors:

Dear Neighborhood advocates:

 

The city council will hold a public hearing  Monday night at 7 p.m. and then
vote on the billboard industry's request to slash Durham's strict billboard
regulations.  The industry wants to be able to concentrate its signs on
certain roadway corridors like I-85 and 15-501.  They want to be able to put
their signs on tall steel masts.  They want the signs they erect in these
places to be permanent.  They want 25% of the signs to be the electronic
variety that flash a new message every eight seconds.  They want to be able
to place a sign as close as 200 feet to someone's home.

 

Unless we want the Durham freeway, I-85, Hwy 70, Roxboro Road, 15-501,
Chapel Hill Boulevard and other Durham thoroughfares to resemble I-85 as it
goes through Burlington, or I-40 near Benson, with giant signs for guns,
cigarettes and strip joints, it is up to us to let the city council know we
oppose the billboard industry's request and that we insist that they, as
elected officials, protect us.

 

We must turn out at the council meeting in large numbers.  I mean large
numbers, not just a few well-spoken representatives.  We have to pack to the
chamber.  We have to approach this like we are the only ones affected.  We
cannot expect anyone else to do this for us.

 

The hearing is Monday night and will be held at city hall downtown.  Make
arrangements to be there.  Carpool if you want.  Find childcare or bring you
kids with you.  After all, it's their homes we are trying to protect.  When
you get to the council chamber, sit in the front, not the back.  People who
care about the city's business sit in front.  People who sit at the back,
like recalcitrant schoolboys, send the signal that they only want to be able
to slip out.

 

You would think this would be a no-brainer for the city council, but if you
knew how relentless the industry's lobbyists have been, (Patrick Byker and
the lawyers at KL Gates, the same folks who represent the developers in the
horrible 751 rezoning), how much money and gifts they have thrown around
(they have even recently offered to hire extra staff for the city to
administer their new program! Really!), you would be truly dismayed.  Even
today, Mayor Bell and a majority of the council members seem to be waffling.
They still won't come out and oppose this terrible idea.

 

Please turn out for the hearing.  It's inconvenient, but it's the greatest
thing you can do for every neighborhood in Durham.

 

Send one last e-mail too.  The address is council at durhamnc.gov .

 

Thanks to you all.

 

Tom Miller

INC President

 

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