Terry Walker thinks the county got a bad deal when they made an agreement with Clear Channel. Under the agreement, Clear Channel will remove the 11 billboards it owns in the county, and in exchange it will put in 500 bus shelters with advertising across the county, including in Potomac. "I don't think it’s a good trade," Walker said.
Although Clear Channel owns 11 billboards in Montgomery County, billboards have been illegal in the county since 1968, according to county documents. The companies which own them sued the county to be allowed to maintain them.
The county, in numerous press releases, billed the deal with Clear Channel as a positive which will allow them to stop litigation, have new shelters, and generate revenue.
Del. Jean Cryor (R-15) isn’t so enthusiastic. “I think this is a terrible mistake,” said Cryor. “This is a backdoor way to avoid zoning regulations that we have here.”
OF THE 500 shelters, 400 will have advertising. Some will replace existing shelters, others will be newly constructed.
Each of the 400 will have two advertising panels on it. The agreement also calls for 10 percent of the panels to advertise county services.
"At any given time, 80 will be advertising county programs,” said Glenn Orlin of the County Council staff.
The County Council approved the agreement in April.
Walker, however, does not agree that the deal is a "win-win.” The new shelters, he says, will be an eyesore and contribute to the general overload of advertising.
The location of the advertising shelters were included as part of the agreement. They will be placed along main roads in the county but not on secondary streets or in residential areas. In some cases, such as Falls Road or River Road, a main road also happens to go through a residential neighborhood, which upsets Walker. "Why should people have to look out of their windows and see that?" Walker said.
“I have no problem with [shelters] being on Rockville Pike or Georgia Avenue — those are commercial roads,” Cryor said. “River Road, Falls Road are not commercial — no way.”
Jeff Dunckel of the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation said Clear Channel has been sensitive to locating the advertising shelters in residential or scenic portions of these roads. “They’ve intentionally avoided locations that are in residential neighborhoods,” he said.
WALKER ALSO SAID many of the shelters will be placed in the right of way on state roads. Cryor is asking the Maryland Department of Transportation for an opinion on the right of way issue, but expects it will be deferred to the county. The State Highway Administration gives broad discretion to localities which want to install such new facilities. If they don't block sight lines, the state is generally not opposed to the shelters. "As long as they are done safely," said Chuck Gischlar, a spokesperson for the administration.
The advertisements are a small part of the shelter as a whole. The shelters will be lighted, will have route maps and timetables, wayfinder (“you are here”) signs, a location name on the edge of the shelter, and will have the capability to accept electronic signs which can give passengers real-time information of where the bus is on the route, Orlin said. "Clear Channel will not be providing the signs, but the shelters will be wired for them," he said.
Councilmember Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) said that the shelters may also help with traffic problems. "One of the ways that we're going to encourage people to take the bus is to provide them with these shelters," Floreen said.
CLEAR CHANNEL has already begun installing the same type of bus shelters in Annapolis, and 60 of the 100 proposed shelters have already been built, said Dunckel. “They’re very attractive,” he said. “I think they’re more attractive than other shelters in the area.”
Since the shelters are more comfortable, it will help make the bus a more attractive option for county residents. "These shelters are much nicer than what we would be able to afford under the current budget," Floreen said.
Cryor believes bus shelters should be a higher priority for county transportation budget, but are too fundamental to draw attention. “A bus shelter is one of the things that should be obvious,” she said.
An agreement with Clear Channel means the county will not have to spend money on litigation, and will actually make money by getting a percentage of the advertising revenues — 10 percent in the second year which will increase to 15 percent the fourth year and 20 in the fifth and subsequent years. “For 15 years, Clear Channel would basically do the care and feeding of the bus shelters in Montgomery County,” said Dunckel.
This, Floreen says will free up other funds. "It lets us put our money into buses," she said.
—Alex Scofield contributed to this article.
THE NEW SHELTERS
* New bus shelters will have roofs between eight and 10 feet in height.
* New shelters will have benches.
* New shelters will be lighted.
* New shelters will be heated.
* New shelters will have advertising. The advertising panels will be perpendicular to the back wall of the shelter
* Ten percent of the advertising will be for county services.
* Shelters will include fare information, a daily timetable and route map.
LOCATIONS
The agreement calls for the construction of a number of shelters per year, but not which shelters will be built in any given year. So while all of these locations will get new shelters, it has not yet been determined when a shelter will be constructed at a specific location. New shelters in Potomac will be located:
* On Falls Road at River Road, northbound.
* On Falls Road near Woodington, north and southbound.
* On Montrose at Seven Locks Road, eastbound.
* On River Road at Counselman, Eastbound.
* On River Road at Congressional Country Club, eastbound.
* On Seven Locks Road at Scotland Drive, northbound.
* On Seven Locks road at Tuckerman, northbound.
* On Goldsboro at MacArthur.
* On Westlake Terrace at Montgomery Mall, eastbound.
* On Westlake Drive at Lakeview Drive, southbound.
* On Westlake Drive at Arizona Circle, southbound.
* On Westlake Drive at Democracy Boulevard, southbound.