Ban Billboard Blight Protecting the visual environment of Los Angeles

After the March 26 arrest of the man who allowed a giant illegal supergraphic sign on his Hollywood building, The Wrap, which covers Hollywood entertainment news, published an article about the predominance of ads for TV shows and movies on illegal signs around the city and the fact that advertisers aren’t held responsible for the actions of  media agencies, sign companies and others involved in the illicit placement of these ads.
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Posted under Billboards, Supergraphics

Supergraphics on building at 4929 Wilshire Blvd. A third face is covered with a statue of liberty image.

Back in October, we asked the question–What will be next?– for a Wilshire Blvd. office building displaying a multi-story supergraphic image of the Statue of Liberty, the calling card of Michael McNeilly, self-proclaimed artist and owner of Skytag, Inc.  That question was answered last week by the appearance of supergraphic commercial ads for a Style Channel TV program on two faces of the building.

See related article here and here.

Posted under Billboards, Michael McNeilly, Skytag, Supergraphics

Signs shown on Lincoln Blvd. were installed four years ago, taken down last week

Fuel Outdoor, the rogue sign company that failed to win a lawsuit challenging the city’s right to ban new off-site advertising signs, has begun taking down the movie-poster style signs installed without permits in a number of locations.  Whether the New York-based company intends to remove all its estimated 200-plus signs is not known.

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Posted under Billboards, Fuel Outdoor, L.A. City Government, Supergraphics

Detail of bolts and cable holding supergraphic sign on Hollywood Blvd. building. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said the 8-story sign could pose a hazard to people on the street below.

The highly-charged debate about the $1 million bail set for a man accused of allowing an illegal supergraphic sign on his Hollywood Blvd. building brings to mind the 2,500-year old Code of Hammurabi, which prescribed a penalty of death for any builder who put up a house that fell down and killed its owner.  This is thought to be the beginning of building codes, and the modern system of permits and inspectors that embodies the idea that people should not have to rely on builders and property owners to assure them that the structures they live and work in and pass by in the streets won’t cave in on their heads or easily burst into flames.

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Posted under Billboards, L.A. City Government, Skytag, Supergraphics, Trutanich

Illegal Supergraphic ad for Asics shoes on Hollywood Blvd. (Credit: Curbed LA)

Update:  Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the owner of the building and the sign company responsible.  See L.A. Times article.

Our friends at Curbed LA were out in the middle of the night covering the removal of the giant supergraphic ad from the historic First National Bank Building on Hollywood Blvd.,  and they observed the fact that a new, albeit much smaller, supergraphic had gone up on a building across the street.  Which raises the question:  Should the City Attorney’s office, which engineered the weekend jailing of the First National Bank Building’s owner, also be going after the owner of the second property?

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Posted under Billboards, L.A. City Government, Supergraphics, Trutanich

Supergraphic ad for 2007 movie "Transformers" being torn off by wind. The building is at Sunset & Vine in Hollywood. (Credit: Curbed LA)

Friday night’s arrest of Kayvan Setareh for allowing an 8-story supergraphic ad to be wrapped across three sides of an historic Hollywood building was not the first time the Pacific Palisades man has run afoul of the city’s sign code, according to building department records.  In January, 2007, a citation was issued for an illegal supergraphic on the building at 6777 Hollywood Blvd, and In November, 2006, citations were issued for a total of four illegal supergraphics on another building owned by Setareh at 5858 Hollywood Blvd.  As reported by the L.A. Times, the arrest of Setareh followed concerns that because there was no inspection of the gigantic ad’s attachment to the building it could come loose and cause injury to pedestrians and motorists in the busy street below.

Posted under Billboards, L.A. City Government, Supergraphics, Trutanich

Supegraphic ad on First National Bank Building for "How to Train Your Dragon," a Dreamworks film scheduled to open March 26

One day after the City Attorney filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against a company for putting up illegal supergraphic signs,  another company installed an apparently illegal sign on the historic First National Bank Building at Hollywood & Highland, just  in time for the March 7 Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater across the street.  The thousands who always gather in the street outside the theater will see the sign, and TV viewers might even get a glimpse if cameras pan in that direction.

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Posted under Billboards, L.A. City Government, Supergraphics

Peter Zackery, president of an L.A. company specializing in poster-style advertising on construction fences and  walls of liquor stores, donut shops and other small businesses, is one of the defendants in the major lawsuit filed this week against World Wide Rush, a Pennsylvania company accused of putting up numerous illegal supergraphic signs.  Another company executive, Gary Shafner, was not named in the suit, but court filings in an unrelated case show him to have been involved in the initial establishment of World Wide Rush in the L.A. market three years ago.

Zackery and Shafner, along with their company, National Promotions and Advertising (NPA), have donated more than $85,000 in the past decade to candidates for mayor, city council, and other city offices, according to Ethics Commission reports.   Shafner hosted a fundraiser last year and an election night party in 2005 for Councilman Bill Rosendahl at his Venice residence, and was singled out in 2008 by Council President Eric Garcetti as having been highly instrumental in persuading Cirque du Soleil to permanently bring one of their shows to the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

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Posted under Billboards, Supergraphics, World Wide Rush

The billboard to the right of the Rainbow sign will be replaced by one nine times larger

In an ongoing quest for revenue from billboard companies eager to expand their presence in the visual landscape, the West Hollywood City Council has approved replacement of a 144 sq. ft. billboard on the Sunset Strip for one 20 by 60 ft.  In exchange, the city will receive $900,000 a year.  See article in WeHo News.   The the city is also discussing whether to allow multi-story supergraphics on a Beverly Blvd. building in exchange for an annual payment from the property owner.  See City Skyline for Sale: Beyond the Sunset Strip.

Posted under Billboards, Supergraphics

Trailer billboard parked on Cahuenga Blvd. The business advertised is several miles away.

A bill to ban billboards on trailers and trucks parked on public streets has been introduced in the California State Assembly by two L.A. area legislators.

The bill, AB2756, states, “Not only are mobile billboards a visual blight, but they pose a significant safety hazard when motorists are forced to veer around them into the next lane of traffic. Mobile billboards also reduce available on-street parking and impair the visibility of pedestrians and drivers.”

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Posted under Billboards, Mobile billboards