Ad Nauseam: Billboards that Obscure and Crowd-Out First Party Signage
Yesterday in Ad Nauseam: 225 Richmond Street West we took a look at an illegal billboard that obscured a historic first party painted sign. Today we continue that theme.
Third party signs harm commercial retail strips by telling people to buy things that have no relation to where they are and by crowding out opportunities for first party signage. Today we look at a number of billboards in Toronto that obscure first party signs. Some of these signs are legal, some are not.
This is what the Pattison roof signs at 2010 Dundas West look like:
The sign is obstructing the first party signage of a car wash:
This section of Dundas is commercially zoned for the first thirty-five metres. The roof of this car wash is within the industrial zone and therefore billboards are permitted.
Look at the Pattison ground sign at the KOS restaurant at 1070 Bathurst Street, south of Dupont. It is obstructing the first party sign of the convenience store next door:
At Dupont and Perth, Pattison’s sign is similarly obstructing a first party ground sign:
We rate this Pattison sign on Weston Road as one of the worst billboards in Toronto:
The sign obstructs the first party sign of the Toronto West Flea Market as well as the hours of operation of the market. The sign is location just south of St. Clair and Weston Road. Before Pattison erected this sign travelers on the St. Clair streetcar could look out their windows and find out something about what’s happening in the neighborhood they are passing through; now, all they see is little different from what they see inside their streetcar.
At Dufferin and College, take a look at the location of the green first paty fascia sign for the Vietnamese newspaper Thoi Bao:
The sign is off to the side to make way for the Astral Media ground sign.
Similarly, at 1071 King Street West, Astral’s fascia sign take up most of the signage opportunities on this wall whereas drivers could easily miss the first party sign for the Toronto Business Development Centre:
The cumulative impact of these signs is to undermine local businesses and the vitality of small retail commercial strips.
