Illegal commercial bus shelters need to be removed in Dunwoody !!!

Visual pollution needs to go.

The illuminated bus shelter above was installed in April 2012 after our sign ordinance was put into place in July 2011, whereby it replaced a plain green shelter that had no illumination and drab advertising.  It appears that no sign nor electrical permits were pulled to change the bus structure and the City of Dunwoody has no contract in place saying that we allow these fixtures in our city.   It is my opinion that once these 12 commercial structures were upgraded throughout the city without our approval that they are now in blatant violation of city codes; therefore should all be removed as allowed by our sign ordinance.

At our June 10th City Council meeting the City presented us with the revenue sharing agreement / contract that I successfully argued that we should not be signing for numerous reasons.   Watch the video of meeting starting 53:30 to 1:19:00 on my site or view the city video and there is also a recap of the meeting from Dunwoody Talk if you want to read about his impressions from watching the meeting.

After being told by legal staff that we had to sign the contract for various reasons, I disagreed and argued that we should not sign the document as we had valid grounds for removal of the signs.  I informed the Council that I notified the City of the illegal structure installations in our right of way in April of 2012 and that it was my opinion that these signs should now be removed as allowed in our code.  They are in violation of building codes as well as the newest sign ordinance and therefore are not allowed.  

I stated that these structures were installed not at locations where shelter is needed by those who ride Marta, but instead are installed where the most eyeballs of a targeted demographic can be shown the sign.  (How many people exit Brook Run Park in the morning to use the shelter above to ride to Chamblee?  vs  How many people exit the Broadstone Apartments down the street near 285 in the morning to ride to Chamblee where there is no shelter available?   This Brook Run location is on a curve where you are forced to see the sign and it has the demographic positives that every middle school parent (and the kids in the passenger seat) must pass this sign five days a week for nine months every year.)

I reminded the City Council that we have pending litigation regarding illegal billboards that were erected high over our heads, aimed at the travelers on 285. So if we approved the proposed bus shelter agreement for an estimated $30,000 per year for advertising pointed directly at our residents; that we would be hypocrites selling our city short.

Signing a ten year year deal would have locked us into this revenue source for that time and allowed the sign company to place signs like shown above.  Then about ten years from now, a completely different city council with no history of the subject might reapprove the item to keep the status quo and to lock in the funding source for an extended time.    The contract item presented in June was deferred pending the same legal research that I have been waiting for since April of 2012 and though I am a patient man the content and the specific target of the sign based on its location outside our biggest city park and only middle school has forced me to bring this item to a wider public light. 

I want this visual pollution gone and I want to follow the lead of other cities like Roswell who actually offer amenities to the residents where they are needed with no advertising attached.

I prefer charm over cash as once you lose the one, you would have a hard time buying it back even if you had plenty of the other.    Thoughts?