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Show County Reaffirms Billboard Stance . i , - - .J ' -. I'M I . - w-i 9 . ' ."--- - The county presently has the power to tear down the signs, said Greenhalgh, but a billboard company could conceivably file for an injunction claiming they were not compensated for their loss. The county ordinance contains no provision for funds to purchase the billboards. Greenhalgh added that it "would help" if the Park City council and planning commission also petitioned the state highway department'. The long-awaited resurfacing of Main street took place Tuesday in whirlwind time. The Summit County Planning Commission has denied a request from the Utah Association of Outdoor Advertisers to meet with the commission and seek a relaxation of the county's billboard bill-board regulations. According to the County Planning Director Max Greenhalgh, Green-halgh, the group had hoped to convince the county to relax the ordinance prohibiting outdoor advertising along state highways 224 and 248 leading into Park City and to increase the permitted maximum size of billboards in the county. Greenhalgh said the commission commis-sion had discussed the matter, but decided there was "no purpose" in meeting with the group since the county is "very firm in its commitment to keep the present zones on highways 224 and 248 and to keep signs to a small size." Under the present ordinance, the maximum premitted size for a billboard is .100 square feet. The group was asking to increase the maximum to 650 square feet. In a related matter, Greenhalgh said the planning commission voted to prohibit a 650 square foot billboard at the intersection of state highway 224 and U.S. highway 40, even though it had been authorized before the new ordinances were approved. Although a sign company has already begun work on the billboard, the commission decided decid-ed it would not qualify as an existing "non-conforming use," since it had not yet been placed on the site and could be used elsewhere. Greenhalgh said the proposed sign would have been about the same size as the existing billboard at the intersection advertising a Heber City restaurant. restau-rant. Greenhalgh also said the county would petition the state highway department to have highways 224 and 248 designated as "scenic highways." The designation would make federal funds available to purchase existing billboards, which under the new county ordinance must be removed within three years, before tearing them down. |