The City of Nelson has a no billboards policy, but three have been located on Government Road since the 1950’s. They’re owned by a company in Trail who were recently asked to remove the signs. Alex Thumm with Development Services says the City discovered there has never been an agreement in place to have the signs up on City property. “Everyone, including a lot of people in the City of Nelson figured well, they’ve been there so long there must be something, but when we looked we couldn’t find anything.”
This means the signs have been there free of charge.
Thumm says the company was willing to enter into an agreement and asked for an exemption from the billboard ban, however City Council didn’t feel it was the right decision. “Railtown is destined to be increasingly a residential neighbourhood and that having billboards, which also just aren’t permitted in the City of Nelson period, but having billboards in an increasingly residential neighbourhood, when that wasn’t part of that neighbourhood’s plan.”
The company was given two weeks to remove the billboards as of Tuesday, September 4.