PITTSBURGH — Earlier this month, Pittsburgh ordered a local advertising company to take down a banner draped over the former Bayer sign on Mount Washington.
The city said neither Lamar Advertising nor Sprint filed a permit application for the advertisement.
However, a hearing held Wednesday about the sign wasn’t focused on the sign’s content but rather its condition.%
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Channel 11’s Rick Earle reported that after complaints about rust on the back of the iconic billboard, the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections sent three letters to Lamar Advertising advising them to fix it. When they failed to do so, the city filed a citation against the company.
After hearing from both sides Wednesday afternoon, a judge agreed to give Lamar 60 days to scrape and paint the rust.
“We are pleased with the ruling, and we are hoping this will be a new day for us and the city,” Jon Kamin, Lamar Advertising’s lawyer, said.
The controversy between the city and the advertising company continued last month when Lamar put up the Sprint ad over the billboard. The city has filed another citation against Lamar, accusing them of failing to get a permit. Lamar contends they don't need one.
Lamar added that after reaching an agreement with neighborhood groups two years ago, they paid a $72,000 application fee and applied for a permit to completely renovate the entire billboard, but they have yet to hear back from the city.
“We want to renovate it and fix it and return it to what it used to look like,” Kamin said.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s Office said the mayor was not happy with Lamar’s proposal and that they were negotiating an agreement when Lamar put up the Sprint ad.
Cox Media Group
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