Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-21
coming PROPOSED
AS B|LLBOARD CURB.
Planning Official Sees 1t as
Most Effective Way to
Improve Approaches.

Unsightly billboards which border
roads of Montgomery and Prince
Georges Counties outside the boundaries
Of the Maryland Washington metropoli-
tan district can best be regulated
through coming ordinances, j. Bond
Smith, general counsel to the Maryland
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission declared yesterday in dis
cussing means of clearing the ap-
proaches 70 the National Capital of out
door advertising before the George
washington bicentennial celebration in
1882.
Mr.. Smith made 1t clear, however,
that there have been proposed various
ways OF restricting signboards, some of
which may be more efhcacious than the
coming method, which he considers
most easily applicable TO Maryland COM
A study of the question Of eliminating
nlllooardS was made by the planning
BODY counsel in connection with the
preparation Of the original coming ordi-
nance or the Maryland-National Capt.
tai Park and Planning Commission
adopted by both Montgomery and Prince
Georges Counties, and again in prepar-
lng revised ordinances which went into
effect about two months ago.
BILL Likely to BE Drawn.
As consequence of his intimate
knowledge of the subject, his opinion
concerning feasible legislation is viewed
IN Doth counties as carrying consider
able weight.
Particular importance attaches to an
authoritative opinion at this time in
the light OF a statement by State Sen
ator Robert G. Hilton of MONTGOMERY
County that it is extremely likely that
regulatory billboard legislation will be
introduced at the session of the Mary
land General Assembly which convenes
IN January
Mr.. Smith said that anv legislation
looking toward the billboard restric-
tlon must be drawn with extreme care
so as not to violate the principle that
no man may be deprived of use of his
property without due process of law.
coming regulations, sanctioned by the
police power, have been proved to ac-
comphSh this result Courts in vari-
Gus jurisdictions have upheld the prin-
cipleN OF coming and its application to
blllboardS and the working of the Zcn-
Ing ordinance in the Washington met
ropolitan district of Maryland never has
been challenged, indicating. he declared,
that a similar method of billboard reg
uJation could be applied to the whole
OF the two counties.
Other Methods Tried.
Other regulatory measures have been
attempted in other States, Mr.. Smith
asserted, but none of them has proved
as satisfactory as coming from a COM
bined legal and practical viewpoint.
Prominent among methods other than
coming, it was explained, have been the
levying of taxes on billboards and their
prohibition as traffic hazards.
The first is of doubtful worth. in the
opinion OF Mr.. Smith, because to elm
mate the billboards the levy would
have to be confiscatory and in that case
it would not have the support of the
courts. If the tax were reasonable, the
billboard operators could pay it and
still operate at a profit. he Indicated
The prohibition Of billboards as tra1-
nc hazards, he said. is based on the as
sumption that they take the motorists
attention from the road causing acct
dents. Mr.. Smith said he did not know
whether Maryland courts would agree
to the truth of this theory.
Outlines Tive Courses.
Two methods of applying coming to
the entire area OF MONTGOMERY and
Prince Georges Counties are apparent
and could be effected at the 1891 seS-
sion of the Maryland General Assem-
bly,, he said. One would be the extern
sion Of the Maryland-W Washington
metropolitan district to include all of
both counties, while the other would be
to create separate coming districts.
Mr.. Smith said the extension of the
metropolitan district probably could be
made so that the 10-cent special tax
on the district would not be applied
to the new area. Objection to the
creation of separate coming areas, he
declared, pi obably would be based on
the resulting cost of administration.
That section of Montgomery County
centering around Potomac is likely to
fall under the metropolitan billboard
regulations July /, 1891, he declared,
since the 1927 General Assembly ex-
pressed a legislative intent to include
the section in the MISUNDERSTANDING
ton metropolitan district at that time
Comparison of Areas.
Effectiveness in the suburban bill
board regulations Is evidenced by COM
pariSon Of such points as Norbeck,
WoodSide amid KenSington, which come
within the metropolitan district, to the
outskirts of Rockville, lying outside the
district. The three points first named
nave rev DIilDo2f0S as compared WIN
Rockville, Mr.. Smith pointed out.
Help can be rendered by citizens in
limiting billboards if they will report
all instances of new outdoor advertiS-
ing in the metropolitan district to the
Park and Planning Commissions Offices
in the County Building at Silver
Spring, Mr.. Smith declared.
He said police of both counties have
been instructed as to the law restrict
ing the erection of billboardS, but vio-
lations may fail to be brought to their
notice.
Illustrations of billboards on road
sides in Montgomery County are to be
found in the rotogravure section of
this Sundays Star. The photographer
took pictures of the billboards from
the roadside and then went behind
them to show the scene which the
billboards obscured from the vision of
motorists. On succeeding Sundays The
Star will show other billboard pictures
taken in Arlington and Prince Georges
Counties and elsewhere as illustrative
of the purpose of the campaign to rid
the roadside of commercialized uglineSs.
WHITE CHRISTMAS RESTS