Billboards and more billboards
For those of you who may be asking, "Where are Greensboro's 363 billboards?" Inside Scoop has the answer thanks to the city's Planning Department.(Click here to download a more detailed .pdf file)
A few caveats: GIS whiz Katie Herring said the map is based on some old data and shows approximately 60 signs that may no longer exist. She said planning staffers planned to update their information in the near future, as the City Council contemplates more restrictions on billboards.
On that subject, billboard supporters, including Fairway Outdoor's local manager, Dan O'Shea, have pointed out that council member Robbie Perkins, a leading billboard critic, himself benefits from outdoor advertising. They are referring to commercial real estate brokerage NAI Maxwell, whose president is Perkins. The company's "For Lease" and "For Sale" signs are posted outside dozens of properties around the Triad.
When asked about the criticism, Perkins said there's one difference between billboards and his company's "For Sale" signs. "When the building gets sold, my signs come down," Perkins said. He also sends this picture of a fellow real estate company's sign in the shadow of a Fairway billboard.
