Billboards are not dead in Bryn Mawr. This affects Lower Merion and Haverford Townships.
This has been going on since 2009.
15 damn years.
I doubt very much the Billboard Baron would want billboards on the lawn of his Gladwyne McMansion, but maybe that’s the place where they ought to go, huh?
https://casetext.com/case/adsmart-outdoor-adver-inc-v-adsmart-outdoor-adver-inc
So I received an email from the current 5th ward commissioner in Haverford Township Laura Cavendish. Her predecessors, the late Andy Lewis and Jeff Heilmann also both fought billboards alongside their residents and constituents.
From Commissioner Laura Cavendish we have sadly learned that the billboard issue is active again, and it has never actually died as an issue in Haverford and Lower Merion Townships . I’m really glad that she sent the update, because her Lower Merion counterpart has been seemingly silent on the issue, hasn’t he? But hey if there are babies to be kissed or photo ops cutting ribbons to be had, he’s your guy.
Here is what the email I received said:
April 24, 2024
Dear Ward 5 Residents,
It was great to see so many of you at the polls yesterday. I shared with some of you a letter which I am now sharing here.
I wanted to provide an update on the Township’s active litigation against four proposed billboards in Haverford, two of which would be located on Lancaster Avenue in Ward 5. For about 20 years, Haverford and Lower Merion have been fighting Catalyst, a company which has proposed four large billboards in Haverford Township. Two of these sites are located on Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr, across from the Acme and near Our Mother of Good Counsel church in Haverford Township; two others are located on West Chester Pike.In 2020, the Court of Common Pleas directed the two townships and Catalyst to come to a settlement. Since that time, Haverford has been working with Catalyst to identify a settlement that would reduce the number of billboard sites proposed by Catalyst and prevent future billboards anywhere in the Township.
As background, the township is legally required to zone an area that permits a billboard. A settlement would mean creating zoning for one, smaller digital billboard, most likely located near the entrance to I-476 on West Chester Pike. Additionally, Lower Merion would likely place a billboard along I-76 as part of the settlement, expressly for the purpose of taking the Lancaster Avenue sites off the table. If no settlement is reached, and the case goes back before the Court of Common Pleas, the judge would likely allow billboards on all four (or more) sites in Haverford, including the two sites on Lancaster.
Large billboards along Lancaster in Bryn Mawr would be viewed by drivers, pedestrians, shoppers, church goers, and so many others in our community. The right settlement would permanently prevent future billboards in the Township, rather than leaving the decision to a judge. Declining to settle would require spending more taxpayer dollars to appeal this case and the township would likely lose. The outcome could be multiple billboards throughout Haverford Township.
While I am strongly opposed to billboards in Haverford Township, given the history of this case and the potential for reducing damaging billboard blight, I will support the right settlement with Catalyst. I believe a settlement will protect Lancaster Avenue and Haverford Township permanently, as well as prevent billboards along our narrow residential thoroughfare in the heart of Bryn Mawr.
Please reach out if you would like to talk or learn more about this important issue.
Laura Cavender, 5th Ward Commissioner
lcavender@havtwp.org
202-415-9881
This billboard company dude is the same one who has been littering our Chester County communities with these billboards as well.
It really is a crappy thing that our communities get saddled with these signs so he can make a profit. Because that’s all that this is about is money and when you meet people like this or you run into people like this, you have to ask once in a while when is there enough money? When do you perhaps need to think about what the right thing to do is?
It’s time for the Billboard Baron to leave Bryn Mawr and all of these other communities alone. I hope these communities, and there respective municipalities still have some fight left in them. After all, there are a lot of us, myself included, who first stood up in 2009 when this all started. A lot of us have given up years to fight these blights on our communities.
#NoBillboardsInTheBurbs
#NoBillboards
#BillboardsSuck
