B.C. Place Stadium is beyond the reach of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»city hall, meaning a resident who lives nearby may have to sue to get the Terry Fox Plaza advertising screen turned off.
The B.C. Enterprise Corporation Act exempts the stadium from civic bylaws. B.C. Pavilion Corporation holds the land fee-simple, which would make it subject to local government bylaws, if not for the Act that governs PavCo, according to Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations spokeswoman Cheekwan Ho.
It is provincial, if they choose not to seek any city oversight they dont have to, said Coun. Geoff Meggs.
David Cookson started a Facebook campaign called Take the Giant Screen Down Now after the stadiums exterior flashing advertising screen lit up his condominium suite four blocks away on Richards Street. What weve got here is the equivalent of a visual ghetto blaster, creating this visual noise for our entire community, said Cookson. This frankly desecrates the Terry Fox memorial.
The screen displays a loop of advertisements, mainly for Telus, and may contravene the citys sign bylaw, which states: The illumination for any sign shall not create a direct glare upon any surrounding site, street or lane.
The Hampton Inn is bathed directly by the video board. Front desk manager Clint Banda said guests have yet to complain.
All of our rooms do have a blackout curtain which keeps all the light out, if guests do have an issue with intensity of lights, Banda said.
City council neglected to contemplate the potential for bright lights at the stadium impacting the quality of life. Last November, it amended only the noise bylaw to allow loud events until 11 p.m. at B.C. Place and Rogers Arena. B.C. Place was already exempt from the noise bylaw for up to 10 concerts and/or motorsports events a year.
The screen is part of PavCos strategy to increase advertising revenue to help pay for the $563 million stadium renovation. It is also further evidence of an international trend toward digital billboards. Magnaglobal, an arm of global advertising giant Interpublic Group, estimates global digital out-of-home revenue will double to $5.2 billion by 2016 because of inexpensive technology that allows content to be altered quickly and different messages to be displayed depending on time of day.
Canadas out-of-home advertising market is worth $567 million.
