Prospect Gardens Community Group

The meeting is set for June 1, 7:30 pm at the new Municipal Building at 5399 N Dixie Hwy, Suite 2.  The public may speak at this meeting regarding the damaged billboard at 849 NW 41 St.  It's important to see that this billboard is removed.  CBS Outdoor and the property owner, Mr. Gonzales will be there certainly will speak for their interests, which have nothing to do with the safety or interest of our residents and neighborhood.  

It's appalling to us that this structure has remained damaged and has been threatening nearby homes for the last 5 years while CBS tried to negotiate a deal with the City to put up another billboard twice the size, and with LED changeable ads.  

Please come out and insure that this billboard is removed by voicing your opinion.

Last night, the Unsafe Structures Board declared the billboard unsafe and set 30 days for it to be taken down completely.  The OP Building Official, Lanny Walker, stated that a permit for demolition was applied for yesterday.  Although we are encouraged by all this, it still remains to be seen whether this damaged structure will be removed in a timely fashion or not. Actually, timeliness passed a long time ago.  It's been 5 years since the structure sustained damage and we are now into another hurricane season.  

Permits can be recalled and can be allowed to run out.  Decisions by the board can be appealed.  Stay tuned.  We will keep you updated here as events unfold.

Please remember this is just the first part of what we would like to see happen.  Yes, the damaged billboard needs to be removed, but more importantly, the monster billboard CBS Outdoor wants to put in it's place needs to stopped.  We need to continue to let the City Commission know we are opposed not only to a new billboard at this location, but to all LED billboards anywhere in Oakland Park.  They just don't fit in to the "Hometown" feel of our small city.  Contact us at  prospectgardens@aol.com with your comments or concerns.

The unanimous vote of the board was to  have the billboard removed in 30 days.  If the owner does not remove it, the City will have it removed and lien the property for the expense.  The owner has until July 2 to take it down.