[UPDATE: Orange Barrel Media (OBM) has now admitted that their proposed billboard location was non-compliant with DC regulations. For weeks OBM claimed this website was libelously and wrong (their trial lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to the DC citizens who started this website). After a year of talking with community leaders, residents, and District officials, they are proposing a new location that is in many ways worse than the original location. Though the new proposed location now complies with one regulation that it previously did not comply with, there are still two central non-compliant characteristics of the sign. Please see our letter to Mayor Fenty here for more details.
Because the signs have been moved, we are no longer arguing that the newy proposed billboard location is non-compliant because it is located in the prohibited rotunda area (we will update the "our case" page of the site soon!).
Members of the community are exasperated with the billlboard company, now more than ever. The most recent claim that they moved the proposed location after they learned, two weeks ago (from the Office of Planning), that the rotunda location was not compliant, is false. The president of the billboard company has made this false statement to reporters, on our comment section, and in other public places. The truth is that when a group of residents met with with Office of Planning officials on January 15, 2010, they had already met with the billboard company and stated that the signs were not compliant.
Another mistruth we wish to dispell is who is behind this website. It is true that residents upset with the proposed billboards got together to start this website. Those most involved in the fight refused to accept any payment in return for their support..OBM cannot dispute this fact because they know it to be true. What is true is that we do not want the billboard under any conditions in any location. That is our promise. Because this issue (e.g. the proposed location of the sign) is changing rapidly we apologize if some information is out date or no longer relevant. We do our best to be accurate and have never tried to mislead our readers.
Our request to the out of state billboard company, Orange Barrel Media, is, please stop intentionally misleading Washingtonians. Our hope is that just as the reporters uncovered that OBM's proposed location was illegal, that other misinformation by the media company will be exposed.]
Giant video billboards are not what anyone has in mind when they think of Washington, D.C. But unless we stop them, these huge, moving-picture billboards will make cherished parts of our beautiful city look more like Times Square. Gallery Place Partners LLC and Ohio -based Orange Barrel Media are working to change city building and public space regulations to erect two additional video billboards in Chinatown.
If we allow these signs to be installed permanently at the corner of 7th and G Street NW, it would greatly increase the likelihood that more video billboards would be erected in other neighborhoods.
They’ve already installed three conspicuous billboards and the new proposed billboards (over Clydes at 7th and G) would be 12-feet by 40-feet (taller than a 4-story building) and would extend over the sidewalk which, according to the Office of Planning, is not compliant with city regulations. Gallery Place Partners wants to change those regulations which would allow them to make millions of dollars of revenue from the billboards.
This website was developed by residents of Gallery Place to keep DC’s neighborhoods free of new video billboards. This proposed billboard is in violation of numerous District ordinances (see “the law”). Make your voice heard by signing our petition and contacting DC public officials. Contact Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans (202-724-8058 or Email) and tell him to oppose new billboards in DC.
Watch Orange Barrel’s promotional video to potential advertisers: [UPDATE: After we posted the Orange Barrel Video on our site, they shortened the video to remove scenes from the signage. Instead of helping Washingtonians understand what the signage would look like, they chose to hide it. Click here to see their shortened version.]
Though DC regulations prohibits advertisements in the public space for any company that is not a use/tenant in the building, on the day we visited they were advertising for H&M clothing store that is not located in the building. If we can’t trust the Ohio-based Orange Barrel to follow our local rules, can they be a good steward of the community? Watch the Video
