Airport sign skirmish takes flight
Joanne Chianello, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: April 13, 2015, Last Updated: April 13, 2015 12:48 PM EDT
Of all the issues that city council deals with, there are few as fraught as the issues of signs. Should we allow digital billboards? Are flashing neon signs in the windows of shops OK? And who can forget the 2010 cow-advertisement controversy, where Cheddar Et Cetera’s rooftop bovine was found to be in contravention of the billboards bylaw?
These files end up attracting way too much attention relative to their importance. But this is understandable. Sure, there are more significant issues that come before council, but the seemingly banal matter of signage is important for two reasons: signs have an instant visual impact, often adding to the visual clutter of everyday life; and, in terms of those who are getting an exemption from the current sign rules, there’s the question of fairness.
The Cheddar Et Cetera cow got a reprieve until July of this year, for example, even though the rooftop ad clearly breaks the city’s sign bylaw. It is a pretty cute cow, but how is it fair that this single company is allowed an exception to the rules?
Another similar battle is brewing down by the airport, this time over parking signs.
It turns out that for the past 17 years, Park’N Fly — a corporation offering private parking at airports across the country — has had signs directing drivers to its operations posted on city property. In fact, it had about 19 signs on city rights of way in the airport area. It’s a practice that is just not allowed under the city’s sign bylaw. The company may have procured an exemption from the pre-amalgamation council of the day to use city property for its signs, but neither Park’N Fly nor the municipality can find any record of such an agreement. The city took down the signs last fall.
Since Mark Laroche was named president and CEO of the Macdonald Cartier International Airport two years ago, he’s been asking the city to take down the illegal signs. Why? Laroche doesn’t mince words. Those Park’N Fly signs were unfairly competing with the airport’s own parking business.
“They were directing potential parking customers to a private parking lot,” said Laroche of the Park’N Fly signs. “Any private company would want to have that kind of access … Non-aeronautical revenue is a big portion in ensuring that our fees remain low for the airline and for the passengers.”
Consider the line about keeping fees “low” as your chuckle for the day. But what the airport, or Park’N Fly or any other airport-parking business charge for their services is beside the point. One single private company shouldn’t get to use public property to advertise its business.
In point of fact, the airport does have one sign on the city right-of-way that advertises its rates, which also surely contravenes the rules. Laroche is quick to say that “if there’s an issue with those signs, I’ll gladly bring them down. I’ll take them down this afternoon if the city wants me to take them down.”
So what’s the problem?
It turns out that Coun. Riley Brockington wants council to reinstate at least some of those Park’N Fly signs temporarily, a motion he plans to move at Wednesday’s council meeting. While he says he doesn’t condone commercial signage on city property, he fears that travellers who have used Park’N Fly in the past and counted on those signs to direct them to the private parking lot would “end up in our residential communities going around and around.”
Have there been any complaints from residents about this? Actually, no.
Still, Brockington calls for seven Park’N Fly signs to be reinstated temporarily until city staff can “develop a wayfinding signage program for parking in and around the airport” by the fourth quarter of this year.
Coming up with a policy for airport parking is a good idea. As the councillor points out, the capital is expecting many more visitors in 2017 and we need to find a way to give them clear information on how to get around.
But it doesn’t make sense to reinstate these Park’N Fly signs that everyone agrees breaks the rules, especially as it’s just for a few months while the city figures out a fairer policy for all. If this exemption is made for Park’N Fly — even temporarily — under what basis could the city deny other private companies also contravening the sign bylaw?
(Anyone who may be under the impression this is a David-and-Goliath type of tale should note that the Park’N Fly chain was purchased by a couple of companies controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Kash-ing last May for $397.5 million, according to Reuters.)
In the meantime, the airport should absolutely have to remove its sign advertising parking rates from city property.
It will be difficult to come up with signage rules that will strike a balance between competitive fairness for companies and useful information for drivers, all while protecting against visual pollution. But allowing a single company to have an exemption isn’t the way to start the discussion.
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I had never heard of AutoParc n Jet before today. Competition is good.
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