Canyon Country Advisor

The Canyon Country Advisory Committee meets the 3rd Wednesday of every month from 7PM to 9PM, in the George A. Caravalho Activity Center Banquet Room, 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway, Santa Clarita. Issues and concerns relating to Canyon Country and the surrounding areas are discussed. The meeting is open to the public. If you have a concern or just want to come and listen you are welcome to attend.

Santa Clarita
California

When will the Billboards be taken down?

This entry was posted on 6/4/2007 6:20 PM and is filed under Billboards.

Every now and then the subject of how to remove Billboards from Santa Clarita streets seems to raise its featureless head and this week was no exception. The standard reply from the City of Santa Clarita is that a certain amount of money is being set aside each year, insert number here, anywhere from $100,000 to $1,000,000, and it will not be long before we can buy a Billboard for the purpose of removing it and “oh yes” city staff response this week was no exception. (See Daily News, Eyesore Signage Targeted by city, June 3, 2007).

The only Billboard, I am aware of, that has ever been taken down was accomplished to make room for the Cross Valley Connecter Soledad Canyon Bridge. The second Billboard removal targeted is a part of the Newhall Redevelopment plan. So, let us do the math. By this weeks report Santa Clarita has approximately 100 Billboards standing. The city has been in existence for 20 years and if we give the city credit for removing both of the above Billboards, the removal rate is 1 removal every 10 years. At that rate, we will complete the Billboard removal project in 1,000 years. Sound absurd to you, well it certainly does to me. Not only absurd, but after the many times I have herd this same canned response it has become intellectually insulting.

Now I fully realize that every Billboard in Santa Clarita does not have to come down tomorrow or perhaps ever. Some are in industrial areas and may be appropriate while others are not. If I were to pick the city’s most atrocious Billboard, the award would go to the spectacle on the north-east corner of Soledad and Sierra Highway. No one is going to pump a lot of money into that corner as long as that monster is standing.

So why doesn’t City Staff come up with a workable plan instead of singing the same old song? It has been 20 years. In that time, we certainly should have been able to prioritize which Billboards need to be removed, develop a strategy, funding plan and schedule. Yesterday has passed us by, the city needs to get started on a realistic plan today!

Alan J. Ferdman
Chair, Canyon Country Advisory Committee

This letter was sent to the Daily News for publication. What are your thoughts on Billboard removal.

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6/5/2007 6:12 AM R Shaughnessy wrote:
Personally, I think all large billboards like those discussed are an eyesore. I have never used them to find services, and I do not know any other person who has either. I am sure they serv there purpose and my views would probably be different if I was a small business owner. I agree will Alan that the the city should stop patting itself on the back and start working to formulate an effective plan to reduce their numbers.
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6/5/2007 4:44 PM Terry wrote:
Keep up the good work!
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6/6/2007 7:22 AM Bill wrote:
Perhaps you could start a collection for $40,000 (per billboard) to help speed up the process?

http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=46808&format=html
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1. 6/6/2007 10:58 AM Alan Ferdman wrote:
  Bill
  
  Starting our own collection is an interesting concept. At the same time, I realize that we have been contributing already just by being taxpayers. The March Signal article (the link you provided) further emphasizes my point that when it comes to Billboard removal, the city is all talk and little action. Now knowing that the number of Billboards removed can be adjusted to 3 in 20 years. The corrected completion date would be 667 years. Still far from a satisfactory solution.
  
  Al
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7/8/2007 3:16 PM Rick wrote:
I agree that the City of Santa Clarita is all talk and very little if any action. Since attending the CCAC meetings and listening to City officals tell us what they think we want to hear. The billboard issue is one. Another is the restroom at the CC metrolink station. Another is road median maintenance. I realize the Soledad Cyn medians are of the "general fund" type of medians in the City. Marsha McLean herself said that the City would keep all medians acceptable because the medians all show how much the City cares of it's perception to the public, local and visitors. Well I'm hear to tell you that the medians east of Sand Cyn along Soledad and Shadow Pines are terrible! I'm e-mailing Dave Peterson about his assurances he made to me at the last meeting that he would pass my concerns along and cc me with his question to the city arborist about the 6 to 8 missing trees east of Flowerpark on Soledad. I've asked this question 3 times and have never heard anything except at the meetings where the responce was "Oh, they didn't get back with you?" Groups like CCAC are the only way that the City will be held to answer. And not have politics as usual.
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7/9/2007 10:01 PM Ashley Ivey wrote:
If this is a place where we can hold the city or whomever it may be, more accountable towards making Canyon Country a better place to live now and for the generations to come to come, I am all in.

Before the CC Magazine, I didn't know where to start in order to participate.

Thank you for the ad on pages 20-21 in July 2007 issue of the Canyon Country Magazine. I love it!
See you at the August meeting for I will be out of town in July.
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