Downtown Billboard Targeted in Court

A local nonprofit has petitioned the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas to order the removal of a large electronic billboard in downtown Pittsburgh.

Scenic Pittsburgh Executive Director Mike Dawida says he was driven to file a complaint in court after months of being ignored by the city’s Bureau of Building Inspection.

Hanging over 11th Street at the Greyhound station, the 1100-square-foot sign remains incomplete three years after construction began.

Lamar started to build the sign in February 2008 with city approval, but City Council said it violated a no-billboard zoning area and later put a moratorium on all electronic billboards.

Dawida says a court order should force the city to remove it right away.

“They have two options: they can tear it down themselves and bill the Lamar company, or they can ask Lamar to tear it down themselves,” says Dawida. “Either way would be fine by me, but it should be torn down.”

Dawida says the billboard is an eyesore and the city should stand by the public zoning process.