Evening star., 1932-02-07
|NEW FIGHT OPENED
ION B|LLB0ARDS BY
DISTRICT OFFICIALS
Company Accused of Failure
to Abandon 1873 Units
Despite Agreement.
PARTIAL LIST Of ALLEGED
VIOLATIONS is FILED
Committee Makes Suggestions for
Steps to Press Removal of
Outlaw Signs.

yesterday that scores or illegal Dill
boards and wall signs are still being
maintained in residential as well as IN
commercial and industrial zones of the
city.
Partial lists of these alleged viola
tionS, together with suggestions from
the Official Sign Committee for initial
steps TO request" the company to re-
move all outlaw" boards, were sent
yesterday to the Office of Maj. Donald
A. Dawson. acting Engineer COmmiS-
Sioner during his absence. Members OF
the committee believed conditions war
rant prompt action if the situation Is 10
be corrected before the Blcentennlal
celebration opens February r.
Responsibility for those conditions
was laid chiefly at the door of the
General Co., which has been char-
acterized as Washington's billboard
octopus" because it has reached out
within the past month to gain
virtual monopoly of the local outdoor
advertising business. In addition 10
its own large number Of unauthorized
billboardS, the Sign Committee con-
tends the General company is respons-
ible now for any boards IN the nSt
which it may have acquired When II
took ovtr the Washington business OF
the Morton company. 1t was said there
are some 40 or so of these so-called un-
authorized boards which the Morton
company had not removed Wnen II got
out of the local field before the explra-
ton of the agreement made with the
Sign Committee.
Davidson to Return Tomorrow.
Capt. Hugh P. Dram, the new director
of inspection under the reorganization
of the District Engineer Department
said that the Morton company had come
clean" in carrying out its part OF the
agreement up to the time 1t remained
in business here. He said the Sign
Committee had put the situation with
respect to the General company up 10
Mai. Davidson, who will return tomor-
row. Its suggestion IS that the COM
pany be requested to take down i'm
mediately all billboardS and wall signs
which are not included in the duly
authorized list which the industry is
permitted to maintain under the regu-
lationS.
Among the boards supposed to have
been abandoned are some which admit
tedlv are used to fence in dump piles
and certain unsightly lots. These boards,
the committee feels, should be permit
ted to remain unless the conditions de-
scribed are held to be inSanltary by
the Health Department. In that case
they would be taken down and the lots
ordered cleaned up
An illuminating survey conducted by
T. H Roche, assistant building in
spector. brought the matter to a head
and indicated to the Sign Committee
the General company apparently had
10 of n
to its agreement When the two
month period of grace expired the COM
mittee got busy and the results of in
veStigationS satisfied members that ac-
tion of a drastic sort should follow
unless the company undertakes to re-
move all its unauthorized boards with
out further compulsion.
Investigated All Locations.
When the agreement was entered in
to the General company submitted a
list of 1873 boards and wall signs to be
discontinued so days after December /,
when the new regulations became et-
fective On January 81 the company
transmitted a list of SO locations re-
ported as discontinued to December 81,
1881. These locations were included IN
the original list of unauthorized sites
Mr.. Roche, who has had charge OF
sign inspections and is thoroughly &C
quainted with all the problems OF en-
forcement, investigated each of the 5s
locations. Of the total, only about 1t
locations had been eliminated.
"A summary of the above report
discloses the actual elimination of sites
was made compulsory by building prof.
ects and owners painting their build
M. C1lhr11ittl6
No record was available at the Dis
trict Building yesterday as to the status
of other locations among the list Of
1873 supposed to be abandoned.
Some of the discontinued boards Wert
removed by reason of Government anc
private building projects A few of the
billboardS that remain standing hac
merely been Scraped of their advertlS-
ing matter. Most of the wall signs re-
ported discontinued were found to bt
! still in existence. Some others hac
been painted out.
Two Regarded as Menace.
At 826 Sixth street southwest, Mr.
! Roche reported two billboards in Sc
very dilapidated condition, which it i!
believed would be menace to life ane
limb in a high wind"
| A location at 1000 BladenSburg road
| where five boards were reported as dis
! continued, were indeed billboardless
These boards, Mr. Roche reported, hat
been removed when they blew down il
| a Windstorm couple OF years ago ane
were not replaced"
| Members of the Sign Committee in.
terpret the agreement to abandon GER.
| tain locations as meaning the remova
of the billboard structures and the
painting out of wall signs.
| The committee is not concerned, i
was said, whether an advertising con
tract had been Cancelled, if the billboard
structure is allowed to remain standing
A billboard minus its picture poster i:
still a billboard. the committee holds
In like manner wall sign that carrie!
its advertising legend is still a wall sign
| even though the contract has been dis
continued.
| Mai. Dawson is understood to hole
| the same view and it was this interpre
| tation of the agreement" it was said
| that actuated the Morton Co. to re
move what units it did abandon befor
it relinquished its Washington business
Several Methods Available.
While hopeful that the entangle,
situation can be Strengthened out in al
amicabe manner, District officials hav
pointed out several methods under tn
regulations to which they can resort
It is possible it was said, to withhol
official permits from the General CT
for its So-called authorized" board
until it has carried out the abandon
ment program in accordance with tn
understanding in which it was entere
into.
The metal license tags, ordered fror
Occoquan, are TO arrive about Janu