A few years ago meetings were packed as residents made it pretty clear they didn’t want giant billboards in the community. This one is at Route 29 and Route 30 in East Whiteland Township, Chester County.
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/malvern/east-whiteland-discuss-lancaster-avenue-electronic-billboards
https://www.eastwhiteland.org/418/Off–Premises-Signs-Electronic-Billboard
There was all sorts of wrangling that seemed to go on forever.
In 2021 I think it was, a settlement reached between East Whiteland and the then billboard company Catslyst. Permits were issued. Residents and the township were stuck with it.
Residents still did not want the billboards. But honestly? The residents didn’t fight as hard in my opinion as they did in other cases. And then there was COVID to factor in at the time.
People get all fired up about issues where they live. But there isn’t the same staying power as there used to be. I don’t know how else to say it. Residents all say something is terrible, but if they don’t get instant gratification after a couple of meetings, interest wanes. A few diehards will keep going to meetings, but as my friends and I learned from the Institute for Justice when fighting eminent domain all those years ago in Ardmore, when government officials only hear from the same people they start to tune them and the issue out. It’s not ignorance, it’s kind of human nature. When it’s the same person time in and time out it’s just blah blah blah after a while.
After a settlement was achieved, the “monument” to ugliness was erected. Now we remember that people were told how it would be good looking and landscaping maintained, right?
Wrong.
It’s a weed pit.
Meanwhile there were all of the issues with clear cutting of trees at the “monument” location in East Whiteland on 202. The worst of it was around 2022.
For that, residents rose up and stayed with the issue. It showed results. Citizen outcry combined with East Whiteland Township resulted in PennDOT getting seriously pissy with the billboard company.
After that there were issues with the display on the 202. They did work on it for a long time. I guess the sign is viable but a lot of times when we go by it’s off.
So the Routes 30 and 29 billboard is active. Garish and distracting visually, I think the ugliness of the display is increased by the unkempt and weedy appearance of the property.
A little over a year ago this time the media was full of stories about the original billboard company and its owner. Financial woes. But he doesn’t own these billboards in East Whiteland any longer I guess? Why do I say that ? The billboards both now say OutFront.
Well the monument to ugliness is a hot mess but the billboard slum overlords do not care. I have been hearing that the East Whiteland Route 30 one is not the only one needing property tending. Apparently along 202 at least one of those is super weedy too.
I still hate these things. Why couldn’t Pennsylvania be a state that doesn’t have them?
Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, and Maine prohibit the construction of new billboards to preserve their natural beauty and scenic landscapes. Oregon has a “cap-and-replace” law, so new billboards can only be built if existing ones are removed. Visit Scenic America to learn more about reducing billboard ugliness.