Professional Documents
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LMT Billboard Resolution
LMT Billboard Resolution
LMT Billboard Resolution
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Bartowski Investment Group has filed an application to erect two
billboards on Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, Haverford Township, one at 600 Lancaster
Avenue, and one at 658 Lancaster Avenue, where both locations are directly adjacent to Lower
Merion Township; and
WHEREAS, Lower Merion Township and Haverford Township share more than a
common boundary, in that both communities have proud histories of care, concern, preservation
and protection of the health, safety and welfare of their respective constituents, while ensuring an
enduring quality of life of all citizens; and
WHEREAS, presently, there are no such billboards located anywhere along Lancaster
Avenue in Bryn Mawr, or the adjacent towns of Haverford, Rosemont, and Villanova, and
WHEREAS, such billboards are to be positioned at two busy, four-way, signal controlled,
intersections where residents of Lower Merion Township live, work, drive, shop, bike and walk,
and
WHEREAS, Lower Merion Township, through its planning and zoning, including the
recently adopted Bryn Mawr Village Zoning, has taken great efforts to preserve and protect the
public health, safety and welfare by recognizing, preserving and enhancing the community
esthetics, which includes the fostering of the visual environment and streetscapes, while also
promoting and complimenting the goals of ensuring viable and safe places to live, work and
shop; and
WHEREAS, such billboards are in direct conflict with the preservation and protection
efforts of Lower Merion Township, and will infringe upon the quality of life and aesthetic values
and goals set forth in its planning and zoning; and
WHEREAS, such billboards will bring a visual clutter and blight to Lancaster Avenue,
which is incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood, degrading and detracting from the
esthetic values of the environment; and
1
Exhibit A
WHEREAS, such billboards distract those who pass by from other tasks, be it driving,
walking, biking, observing directional signals or traffic signals, watching for vehicles turning
into or moving out of parking spaces, coming in or out of parking lots, noting the presence of
trucks and vehicles unloading and loading, all of which are relevant to the two locations along
Lancaster Avenue; and
WHEREAS, a number of research studies, both in the United States, Great Britain and
Australia, have concluded from field studies that there seems to be a strong link between
accident rates and the presence of signs/billboards, particularly at junctions or intersections; and
WHEREAS, one such study concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that
advertisements and signs placed near junctions can function as distractors, and that this
constitutes a major threat to road safety. This is because these signs create visual 'clutter' thus
making it harder for the driver to perceive traffic lights and other safety signs/devices. (See the
Study prepared by Brendon Wallace for the Scottish Government Research Council, August
2003, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/08/17782/23546)
WHEREAS, the illumination of such billboards will create unnecessary and unwanted
light pollution, impair the night sky, and be totally incompatible with the esthetics of the nearby
buildings and residences, serving to greatly exacerbate the previously noted harms to the entire
surrounding community and traveling public.
________________________
Bruce D. Reed, President
ATTEST:
_______________________
Eileen R. Trainer, Secretary