Nov 7, 2002 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – With a second advertising sign being proposed for construction within the city limits, members of the planning commission, code enforcement officer and a solicitor are urging council to upgrade ordinances relating to the installation of billboards. According to city records, Mount Pleasant resident Samuel Livingston has submitted an application to erect a sign near the intersection of Route 119 and York Avenue.

While the information regarding the height is non-existent on the application, and no plans detailing the design are included, Livingston lists the cost at $37,000. This amount is slightly more than the estimated cost of the controversial advertising sign being built on West Crawford Avenue.

“It sounds like it could be something similar to the one being constructed by Randy Strickler,” speculated Rita Bornstein, the city code enforcement officer.

Strickler received commission approval last week to move forward with the West Side project that had drawn criticism from some city council members because of its location and size.

Bornstein said Livingston has been instructed to contact the Pennsylvania Deprtment of Transportation (PennDOT) concerning the matter and submit a more detailed site plan before it is turned over to the commission for consideration. The state transportation department oversees the erection of advertising signs along state highways and a complete plan including materials to be used and sizes are to be listed on the application.

The lack of applicable regulations for the construction of signs has come under scrutiny by the planning commission and its solicitor, Kirk Sohonage, while it was reviewing Strickler’s application.

“We better get something in place,” said David Leeder, commission member after the board approved the construction of a 40-foot sign along West Crawford Avenue last week.

Sohonage instructed the panel that it had no recourse but to authorize the building that would provide the surface for four electronic signs, despite concerns it blocked the view of traffic at the busy intersection of Crawford Avenue and routes 119 and 201.

Sohonage said only one city ordinance gives any direction to the commission in relation to the construction of billboards. However, it cannot be enforced because the majority of signs within the city exceed the 4-foot square limitation set forth in the regulation.

“The sign on the front of city hall probably exceeds the guideline,” said Sohonage. “We cannot deny a permit based on that criteria when it hasn’t been enforced in other cases.”

Bornstein has suggested council enact the federal Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) regulations relating to building construction projects to allow the city to better control construction projects.

Although the city does have in place BOCA guidelines in connection to property maintenance, one- and two-family dwellings and fire safety, it has not implemented any of the regulations related to planning and zoning.

Mayor Judy Reed said that the city would join with other state municipalities in implementing the BOCA regulations next year when they are required to adopt the guidelines.

Meanwhile, Reed said she is working with the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DCED) Governor’s Center for Local Government Services to update the city ordinances.

“(The center) will be doing in-servicing of the planning commission and zoning hearing board members,” she said. “They will also review all of the ordinances and help bring them up to date.”

No timeframe has been established for the training of the panel members or the review of the city regulations.