Letter to the Editor: Ace Outdoor Billboard Will Create an 'Aesthetic Blight'

Dear Editor,

I've been an activist in Weho for many years and have lived in the community long before it became a city. What is going on is just terrible and the City Council has turned into a fiefdom.

A few weeks ago, the West Hollywood City Council voted to take the first step to allow a Utah-based billboard company, Ace Outdoor Advertising, to install a new billboard at 8535 Sunset Blvd.

If approved, this project will:

• Create an aesthetic blight by lighting up a residential neighborhood and will block views.
• Grant a variance that will allow a billboard almost double the size of the current billboard.
• Tower over homes at a height of 68 feet despite the sites 40-foot height limit.
• Ignore the Sunset Specific Plan, a planning document fought for by residents to limit the size and number of billboards on the strip.

This project clearly does not improve the neighborhood, flies in the face of responsible growth and violates the basic principles of our community. Please join our efforts to stop this billboard from being installed by calling 323-848-6460 and send emails to the following list of city officials.

The meeting is Sept. 6 and it would be very much appreciated if you could attend. In any case, your emails and calls will be a huge help. Should you have any questions, please call me at 323-650-6367.

—G.G. Verone, long-time West Hollywood resident

West Hollywood Patch accepts Letters to the Editor from residents. Please e-mail yours to Local Editor Danielle Jacoby.