Letter to the Editor published in The Signal 2/25/2014

In response to Santa Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar’s Feb. 23 column published in The Signal: Removing the billboards within the city boundaries is a worthy priority for our city and a certainly a complicated endeavor.

There is no doubt that the city has “a great opportunity right now to take a giant step forward in continuing to beautify our community,” and I am aware this is an opportunity 25 years in the making.

However, moving the “blight” from one area of the city or another doesn’t seem like the best approach. Specifically, the sign just north of Sand Canyon Road on Highway 14 will be visible from many homes along Soledad Canyon Road, including my own.

The sign will be about 400 feet from the nearest home and less than 700 feet from mine.

If electronic billboards are an acceptable medium to construct, why aren’t they being built in the current areas where the billboards are being removed? It seems like a reasonable solution to remove 62 structures and then build three as replacements and not move the blight to other locations within the city.

This would allow business in the area to utilize them and lessen the impact of removing them altogether.

Lastly, if the council chooses to approve the proposal, I would like to suggest most or all the funds be earmarked for specific worthy programs and not be dumped into the General Fund.

For example, transportation services and taxi subsidies for our senior citizens, a senior center on the east side of town, traffic control around schools (including more crossing guards), or even small business loans or grants.

Thank you for your time and for your service to the community.