Concerned Citizens of the Penn Quarter 0

Oppose the Verizon Center Graphics & Entertainment Act

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The DC Council has scheduled a January 23 hearing to consider the Verizon Center Graphics & Entertainment Act (B19-0517). We oppose the Act because it would allow the Verizon Center to install up to nine (9) lighted and animated exterior billboards of any size and at any location on the Center. It will exempt these billboards from most of the regulations that apply to all other billboards in the city.

The District needs a reasonable, comprehensive, citywide policy for billboards. We do not need “special exceptions” or special treatment for a select few.

Washington is not Times Square. Our billboard policy must reflect the city’s unique status and character and properly balances our historic and contemporary elements. It needs to be addressed by all the stakeholders, not established unilaterally by the Verizon Center.

The primary beneficiaries of the proposed legislation are the Verizon Center where the advertising revenue will go and the advertisers… and the city may get some new tax revenue. Everyone else loses! This will not bring any additional people or dollars to the city. Impacted commercial and residential property values will likely decline as the pool of interested tenants will definitely decrease… with corresponding losses in property taxes collected by the city. There is absolutely nothing in this bill that benefits the community.

When the Center was approved in 1995, certain agreements and a memorandum of agreement established a procedure for considering changes in signage because it was a controversial issue from the beginning. Those agreements and the process they outlined must be followed.

This legislation should be defeated.