Thursday, January 18, 1979
3
City's billboard ban angers firms
By SHIRLEY SHOUP
The manager of the Virginia Inn, 2907 W. Sixth St., said yesterday that he thought the city commission "acted irrationally" when she Tuesday to enforce a ban on billboards.
Staff Reporter
"I'm disgusted," said Ed Pociejewski, manager of the Virginia Inn. "I think some of the commissioners did not listen to what they were saying night. They had their minds made up."
Pieciewski is concerned that the Virginia Inn will lose its billboard on U.S. Highway 59 just off the west exit of the Kansas Turnpike and ordinance banning the signs is enforced.
The ordinance stipulates that all billboards within the city will be removed by the city.
Pociejwski said, the Virginia Inn
capped a 70-day stay in U.S. 40,
extended and keep the model in its
presence.
"NOBODY KNOWS where the hell U.S. 40 is," he said. "We would lose many customers, if the sign were removed. People tend to act on what they see."
Martin Outdoor, a California-based company, has 38 billboards in Lawrence that would have to be removed because of the ban. Tom Martin, president of the firm, said he tried to compromise with the city, but commissioners refused to accept any of the billboards. Tuesday that the company would sue the city if the billboard ban were enforced.
Martin Outdoor told the commission in December that it would challenge the ordinance in court on the First and Fourth Amendments if the city enforced the or-
Tom Murray, a Lawrence attorney for Martin Outdoor, had no comment yesterday on his report.
Another Lawrence businessman, Steve Cochran, owner of Overland Photo, 1741 Massachusetts St., also said he was disappointed by the commission's action.
"I THINK THE decision was wrong," he said. "I don't think the commissioners who passed the original ordinance intended to put Martin out of business. They didn't give any thought that this is a business—a company whose business is signs.
"I wouldn't want anyone coming along and taking away my business."
Cochran said he advertised on billboards occasionally and removing them would hurt his business, although he could not pinpoint how much.
"Billboards are one of the media," he said. "They are one of the most inexpensive and accessible forms of information."
"If it were me," he said of Martin, "I'd be insured." He'd fight them in everything.
Brent McPail, an assistant to the city manager, said he expected Martin Outdoor
And Donald Binns, Lawrence mayor,
appeared to welcome the chance to test the ordinance in court. He said the controversy brought the entire ordinance into question.
"IF THIS company can vary from it, then we will have trouble when we try to enforce the other sections of the ordinance that regulate the size and placement of signs." We need to going to enforce the ordinance. We need to know what kind of authority we have."
Expansions could bring new jobs
Expansion plans announced yesterday by spokesmen for two Lawrence companies.
The two companies, King Radio Corp. and Packer Plastic Ink., announced their expansion plans at a breakfast meeting of the Member of Commerce in the Kansas Union.
King Radio, an aircraft electronics firm at 724 Connecticut SL., is scheduled to move to a new building at 31st Street and Haskell Avenue in November.
Packer Plastic is moving its Kansas City Mo. operations to a plant at 230 Plaza.
George Lewis, plant manager for King Radio in Lawrence, said he expected to hire 40 to 50 new employees after the move was made.
"We have always had some part-time students working here and we would anticipate some new jobs possibly opening up for students," he said.
Jim Schwartzburg, president of Packer
manufactures the plastic cups used for soft drinks at KU sports events, employed KU students and more may be hired as a result of the move.
He also said his company, which
Plastics, said his company's move would mean from 100 to 150 new jobs for the company.
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"If the ordinance is in violation of all laws, then we would want to revise it," he said. "Of course, we might win a court fight."
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If the city removed the billboards, billboard owners might be able to bill the city for lost revenue. But the city does not compensate Martin Outdoor for its signs.
But a lawyer for the Kansas Department of Transportation told the commissioners Tuesday that a recent federal law required compensation for removal of billboards.
"The city is not prepared to pay a thing," McCall said.
Pociejwick said he would wait to see what Martin Outdoor did. If the billboards have to be removed, he said, the Virginia Inn would "seek compensation from the state and federal government, and from the city."
"I'd ask for quite a bit."
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For several years we have seen a steady erosion of commitment to freedom of speech on the part of the KU administration. In the name of public relations, KU seems to have lost track of one of its most important jobs; providing a forum where many different ideas can be expressed and debated.
Not everyone at KU has forgotten that a university should promote, not restrict, free speech and thought. The Academic Freedom Action Coalition urges you to support Free Speech Day by attending the rally and speaking out to support the freedoms we must defend if we are not to lose them.
Join us!