Evening star., 1934-04-19
SHOWDOWN NEARS
ON REGULATION Of
|C|TY'S B|LLBOARDS
General Outdoor Co. Seeks
Replacement on Huge.
Scale.
SIGN COMMITTEE TOLD
TO MAKE FULL REPORT
Gotwals Lists Conditions for
Building Further Adver.
tising Displays.

An application of the General Out
door Advertising Co. for replacement
of billboards on huge scale in the
District of Columbia threatens a
showdown on enforcement of local
sign regulations
This was disclosed today by Maj.
John c. Gotwals, Engineer Commits
sioner, who has ordered full report
on the application from the Commits
sioners' Sign Committee and added
that he would give it very careful and
deliberate study. Maj. Gotwals was
moved to take this course by the
fact. he said, that the billboard COM
pany has gone far beyond any previ-
Gus request for replacing its boards
in the city and now is asking carte
blanc permission to erect some So
boards on 20 locations"
Plans Full Publicity.
The Engineer Commissioner de-
clared he would give full publicity
to the report when completed and
intended to use the application Of the
1Ol d hIlOlCOdlc 1C~
placement program Ito force show
down on the three-year agreement
entered into with the General Out
door Advertising Co. to remove all its
signs from residential and Shipstead
areas"
Under this agreement. which ex-
pires December l of this year, the
billboard company Is supposed to have
only 435 boards and wall signs re-
manning on legalized locations in the
District of Columbia. Maj Gotwals
said he intends to find out the status
of the program for removing signs in
residential areas and locations 'front.'
ing public buildings and parks before
he takes any definite action on the
pending application. He furthermore
pointed out he wanted to know how
many of the remaining legalized signs
were billboards and how many were
wall signs.
Will Impose Conditions.
Mai. Gotwals disclosed that he in
tends to impose certain conditions on
the General Outdoor Advertising Co.
before he would consent to any further
replacement of advertising displays.
These conditions are:
That none of the boards to be re-
placed be located on any arterial
entrance to the city or any street
intended to be developed into an
arterial highway.
The design and landscaping Of the
advertising units must be approved
by the proper authorities before
permit is granted.
The billboard company, in any re-
placements, must remove the equiva-
lent number of units from residen-
tial and Shipstead act areas.
No billboard or wall sign shall be
located where it would be plainly
visible from any public building.
Maj. Gotwals pointed out that ur-
der the three-year agreement with the
billboard interests the company was
supposed to have abandoned 40 per
cent of it's existing billboards and
wall signs in residential areas and
in areas facing public buildings and
parks the first year This was to
be followed by 30 per cent reductions
the second and third year Of the
agreement which soon is to expire.
Would Retain 435.
Under this agreement the company
was to be permitted to retain 435
billboards and wall signs in COM
merciaI and industrial areas, replac-
ing where necessary to hold to this
figure.
When the agreement was signed
the Morton Advertising Co. was a
local competitor of the General Co.
Since then the latter has gained prac-
tically complete monopoly of the
billboard business in Washington.
Some time ago it gained victory
by getting permission to replace dilap-
idated boards around three sides of
city square block in the vicinity Of
New York and Florida avenues north
east. The new boards were of REIN
forced iron and steel construction, the
latest design, to give permanent life to
the structures.
Entering Wedge Sought.
The company sought this as an en-
tering wedge for similar replacement
programs. Only one other site for the
steel frames has been awarded, how
ever, that being in Southwest Wash
ington. In each case the peculiar
conditions of nsightliness were the
governing factor in awarding the per-
NIT.
The company now is trying to erect
SO more of these permanent billboards.
The Commissioners Sign Committee
has reduced the locations to 20 in
stead of 20 and the number of bill
board units to 40. Some of the de-
sired locations were found to be in
residential areas or on arterial high
ways. One Of the locations disap-
proved by the committee, for example,
was on the Chain Bridge road in the
vicinity of Thirty-seventh street.
Maj. Gotwals, however, has the final
say about the recommendations which
he will make to the Board of District
Commissioners in respect to the pend
ing application. He indicated he would
hew to the line and force the company
to live strictly up to the terms of its
three-year abandonment agreement
before he would consider the applica-,
ton.