City Council Nixes Plan For Digital Billboard in Old City

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia City Council is scuttling a real estate developer's plan for a massive electronic sign that could have greeted incoming drivers on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Developer Robert Ambrosi of ARC Properties is planning a combination of hotel, condominium apartments, and retail development at 5th and Race Streets in Old City, and he had also planned a seven-story-high electronic billboard facing the Ben Franklin Bridge.

But councilman Frank DiCicco on Thursday will amend the project's zoning bill so that no sign is allowed.   He says he now believes the sign would be visible also to Old City residents.

"It is more obvious now that it would be seen by the residential community on the east side of the project.  And that to me is a dealbreaker," DiCicco told reporters on Wednesday.  "The sign is out."

The anti-blight group "SCRUB" had argued that the digital billboard would be a dangerous distraction to drivers and a nuisance to residents.  The group says DiCicco's move to not allow the sign after all is "the right decision."

Ambrosi, the developer, could not be reached immediately for comment.  He had argued that the economic viability of the project depended on inclusion of the electronic sign.

Reported by KYW City Hall Bureau Chief Mike Dunn.