Clear Channel's freedom fighters recently took the initiative to stand up for urban beauty where few would dare, boldly taking it upon themselves to hire a landscaping company to clear away noisome trees that until recently blighted the South side of the Vine Street Expressway, and concealed the scenic majesty of a billboard near the railroad tracks.

The nightmare is over: Foliage once menaced the bottom edge of this handsome billboard.

Pride in our billboards is what makes Philadelphia unique, and we must do whatever it takes to ensure that our citizens have a clear view of them.  With all the unsightly landscaping and architecture that has historically been allowed to proliferate in this city, it is reassuring that Clear Channel is willing to take a stand, and insist that nothing interfere with the beauty of our billboards.

Philadelphians are blessed with a city increasingly devoid of livable spaces - a city that functions, as any decent urban planner will tell you a city should, as a forum in which to advertise to passing motorists first and foremost: a city that sensibly relegates livability and attractive design to the last millenium.

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This morning, a company under contract to ClearChannel cut down a swath of greenery along the south side of the Vine Street Expressway between 23rd street and the Schuykill River. 10s of 1000s of people experienced this green space area everyday as it is just before the river and the 76/676 interchange. Many hundreds, if not thousands, of city residents look out on it from the highrises near the Art Museum. This used to be the south side of a green corridor, now it looks like a flat soccer field.

It appears that ClearChannel has deforested public land and that it did so in order to increase the view of their billboard for cars traveling west coming out from the 22nd Street underpass:

A query to City Councilman Derrill Clarke's office produced information that an okay had been given by PennDot and the Fairmont Park Commission in response to a request by ClearChannel who said "their billboard was being blocked by trees".

The thing is, as you can see in the attached picture, the billboard is located more than a football field away from the tree removal area (depicted in the center of the attached photograph). The billboard is located far off to the right, next to the railroad tracks, along the
river. It is lalso located 40 feet up in the air and it extends to 70 feet in the air.

Ten trees and bushes were removed before the rain started and the tree cutting crew withdrew. The deforested/denuded area is along the 2 highway medians (center of attached picture). One median runs between the offramp and the onramps of the expressway, and the other runs between the onramp and the expressway itself. You can see the greenery on the other side of the expressway (shown at the bottom of the image) as a contrast.

In short, it appears that ClearChannel was allowed to clear a 'viewshed' for its commercial billboard, destroying a city green space paid for by tax dollars.

The company involved was [company name redacted]. I called them and was told they were under contract to ClearChannel. I then spoke to Donna Bullock at the councilman's office who learned that PennDot and ClearChannel were invovled. I then called Ms. Winkler at State Senator Babbete Josephs office who called Penndot and was told it had nothing to do with them. Ms. Winkler called ClearChannel and was told that ClearChannel was told to go ahead because "no one could figure out whose land the medians belonged to (the city, state, or park)". (Which is pretty strange since it is regularly mowed so some agency claims it.)  They also said that they ordered only "trimming" of the trees (-- a half block from their billboard on public land?) and that they planned to replant (restore an area they didn't own?).

The noise of the highway will presumably be much worse for neighborhood residents. Studies have shown that greenery keeps aggression at bay for commuters and this is congested roadway. Also, it seems possible that the lights of eastbound on-coming cars will no longer be blocked by the vegetation making it harder for west bound drivers to navigate the tricky stretch of highway they are driving (the approach to the 76/676 interchange).  Obviously ClearChannel put itself above local commerical interests as I would imagine that the owners of the buildings overlooking the highway will find it that much harder to rent their properties now that the view is detracted from.

It does not seem right that a commercial interest gets to impact the quality of our life here in the city.
[Name and address redacted]