Nutter allows animated billboards for Center City

Mayor Nutter has allowed controversial 3-D animated billboards to come to Center City, after negotiating for modifications to how the displays will be regulated.

The five-story installations, dubbed "urban experiential displays" (UEDs), are limited to a portion of Center City. One is to be built outside the Convention Center, another outside the Reading Terminal Market, pending approval from the Art Commission.

Councilman Mark Squilla introduced the legislation, which met with resistance from the Center City Residents Association and Scenic Philadelphia, a group advocating for green spaces.

Opponents called the advertisement-art hybrids eyesores that would reap huge profits for Catalyst Outdoors, the Malvern firm erecting them, and little for the city.

As part of the agreement, Catalyst must pay $5.2 million per billboard to local nonprofits.

On Thursday, the last day on which Nutter could have vetoed the measure, he let it become law without his signature, counting on several agreed-upon amendments.

The amendments, which Squilla introduced Thursday, will give the Streets Department oversight of any display not under Department of Transportation jurisdiction. That eased some safety concerns over what traffic studies would be done to prevent accidents.

Also, the Planning Commission will be required to make recommendations to the Art Commission on all proposals, including for the two planned UEDs.

"There's going to be opposition," Squilla said. "But this enables it to move forward in a way that I think the administration feels comfortable and that we feel comfortable."

Mary Tracy, head of Scenic Philadelphia, said that although UEDs are currently limited to Center City, nothing would stop legislation from adding districts to the zone.

"If you can find a nonprofit willing to partner with Catalyst and take money from them, then the sky's the limit," she said. "We don't want to be Times Square here. We have authentic character, architecture, historic sites, and we don't need digitization throughout the city."