STONY POINT ACTION COMMITTEE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (SPACE) PRESIDENT SAYS NO TO ELECTRONIC BILLBOARD PROPOSAL

To the editor,

The Stony Point supervisor and town board want to place two large electronic billboards in the town, claiming it will “better inform residents of town news and serve the public good.” But will a change in the town law instead add visual clutter to Route 9W and our major intersections and detract from the peaceful, historic character of Stony Point? To preserve these features, the current town sign law was written to prohibit electronic, animated and other motion signs in the town. If you like those signs, you can take a quick drive down Route 9W into Haverstraw and see what will be coming north soon if the town board has its way.

The proposed town law states that the sign can be as high as 10 feet but gives no details as to the actual maximum dimensions of proposed signs, which the law says the board can change at any time. The town board will tell you that it will get the signs for “free.” However, what “free” means is the town will have to sign a 20-year agreement to allow the company to place the sign on private or public property and that most of what will be displayed will be advertising. Do we have any control over what that advertising will be? The town does not say. How can we also tell our children that it is not safe to read text messages on their phone while driving in their car but ok to read electronic text messaging on town billboards as they drive by?

Please attend the public hearing when the town will explain the local law and vote at the next town board meeting on Tuesday, October 28 at 7 p.m. at RHO Building. I urge the Stony Point Town Board members to vote no on Supervisor Finn’s misguided billboard sign law.

Sincerely,

George Potanovic, Jr.
Stony Point
President, SPACE