The city has made good on its threat to go to court to force Lamar Advertising to remove the vinyl black and yellow Sprint banner from the former Bayer sign atop Mount Washington.
Calling the advertisement an eyesore to residents and tourists, the city filed a complaint Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court seeking an injunction to require Lamar to immediately remove the banner, which has been in place since May 31.
The court action comes after Lamar refused to take down the sign by 5 p.m. Monday, the deadline set by city Solicitor Lourdes Sanchez-Ridge.
The ultimatum was issued after the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment ruled Feb. 16 that the yellow banner with black lettering proclaiming “Pittsburgh WINS with Black & Yellow” violated the law.
“The sign continues to be a nuisance causing annoyance and distress to plaintiff as well as residents of the city, including in the immediate neighborhood thereof, and will materially lessen the value of certain property as a result,” the city stated in its complaint.
Injunctive relief is necessary, the city maintained, to “prevent a legal wrong” from prevailing. It charged that Lamar is “willfully ignoring” the zoning board decision.
Jonathan Kamin, Lamar’s attorney, said that the company was planning to file an appeal of the zoning board decision to Common Pleas Court, setting up the potential for dueling legal battles.
“For almost 90 years, Lamar and its predecessors have operated an advertising sign on Mount Washington. We were disappointed that the zoning board decided to improperly extinguish our rights and believe that our constitutional and property rights have been violated. While we are hopeful that we can work out a solution with the city, we will not refrain from protecting our rights,” he said.
In denying Lamar’s protest appeal, the board, in its decision last month, found that the installation of the 7,200-square-foot vinyl static advertising sign as a replacement for a nonconforming 4,500-square-foot electronic sign violated a section of the city zoning code, which states that nonconforming signs “may not be enlarged, added to or replaced by another nonconforming sign or by a nonconforming use or structure.”
According to the complaint, Lamar put up the banner last year without filing an application with or seeking the required approvals of the city. After doing so, it ignored demands by the law department to take down the advertisement.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: February 28, 2017, 9:35 p.m.