Billboards on East Main Road: Do Tough Times Call For Scenic Concessions?
Billboards on East Main Road currently bring in $42,500 of advertising revenue. Council has said they do not plan to renew the lease, which is set to expire at the end of November.
For three years Middletown has rented space to the advertising company Lamar, for the right to place billboards at the town's Boulevard Nurseries property on East Main Road. The town receives $42,500 annually for the agreement, which is set to expire at the end of November.
The council voted not to renew the lease.
Scenic America has formally commended the council for its decision. Scenic America is a nonprofit advocacy organization based out of Washington D.C. with a stated mission to preserve the scenic character of America's communities and countryside.
The organization said the site piqued their interest while on a retreat in Newport last summer.
“We were so fascinated by the story of the billboards located along East Main Road in Middletown that Bill Brinton, our distinguished attorney and an expert litigator on billboard matters from Jacksonville, Florida, took a cab to view the site,” Scenic America wrote to the council.
The town acquired the land which had the billboards already in place. The land is currently conserved by the Aquidneck Land Trust, and can not be developed upon. In a 2009 resolution, the council cited legal restrictions that would prevent the town from evicting Lamar at that time, as well as the financial benefits for the town, as reasons to enter a rental agreement with the company.
In addition to compromising the vista, Scenic America said studies have demonstrated billboards negatively impact nearby real estate values.
Four candidates for Middletown Council, Olin (Butch) Gambrell, Richard Francis, Paul Rodrigues and Robert J. Sylvia have spoken up against the decision.
“We have numerous residents who are scraping pennies in order to keep their homes,” said the candidates in a written statement.
The candidates have hired an attorney, citing that the decision should be reevaluated after elections.
“We want to clarify we have no intention to sue the town,” said Sylvia. “If it came to that, we would back off.”
Former council member Charles Vaillancourt criticized Rodrigues and Sylvia, both former council members, for their decision to hire an attorney.
“For either Paul Rodrigues or Robert Sylvia to suggest they are challenging the town in order to save the taxpayer money is insincere at best,” wrote Villancourt in a letter to the editor. “If they back off their plan to sue the town, then they were just looking for free press. Either way, that is not how a candidate should conduct a campaign or represent his constituents.”
In an interview, Sylvia said the town should keep the signs up until the economy improves; at that point, the town could revisit. Once the signs come down, the town will not be able to put them back up, he said.
"It costs the town nothing," said Sylvia.
What do you think? Is it worth $42,500 a year to keep billboard advertisements on the property?
Read the full statements here:
Deborah Marksberry
9:22 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Keep the billboards - they're not that unsightly and that is a great deal of money to turn down - those who strongly object to them probably don't have to worry about money .
Stanley Martin
9:49 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
This council is doing nothing for us. Vote them all out. Vote NO on ballot questions 9-13. These are all ramrodded to us by Dan Kinder...
Denis
10:35 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Renegotiate the lease for a 10 year run at double the money. ($85,000.00 per annum.) The longer term gives Lamar time to recoup the added costs and takes the issue of removal into a more prosperous future time. (We hope.) If Lamar won't go for the new terms then offer it out to others. In general the aestetics of the billboards, where they are, is not really an issue, (They are almost a nostalgic novelty.) although the new lease could also call to include some nice plantings around the signage units and allow for future upgrades to the units themselves.
Westwind
10:41 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
They have been their for most of my 66 years that I can remember. In these stressful financial times I think it is not responsible to remove or do away with income that does help the town no matter how small. But of course the politican's are going to climb on this band wagon it's and election year, otherwise you wouldn't hear boo from them.
An Islander
11:02 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Wow, I was under the impression that those eye sores were on private land.
Point 1: Isn't this the same town that was recently enforcing a sign ordinance that prevented local businesses from using certain colors in their signs to protect the "scenic beauty of the town"? I guess in the minds of these same people, driving by a Billboard farm on your way into the town advertising breakfast meals, low cost checking accounts, cheap condos, and an appliance store is in line with what their idea of "scenic beauty" is.
Point 2: Lamar is making aprox. $14,000 per month per panel on their billboards on route 195 (http://www.lamaroutdoor.com/). Say they charge half that for the billboards on on E. Main Road. That would be $7,000 per month per panel. There are six panels. Quick math now...$7,000 x 6 panels x 12 months = $504,000 per year in revenues for Lamar. Pretty good margins for Lamar...not so good a deal for Middletown.
Point 3: Are we really talking about $42,500 per year? Sounds very desperate to me. How much revenue could the town make if if it put a billboard on top of the Town Hall building? What about the High School?
Point 4: Would the cost to the town of a law suit even be worth protecting this tiny revenue stream?
Point 5: To Paul Rodriques and Robert Sylvia...are you really fighting this hard to protect the pockets of Lamar? You obviously are...and can I tell you about that bridge that I'm selling?
2nd Beach
7:38 am on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Keep the signs, renegotiate the rates and use the money for our schools