Tuesday 27 December 2011

Mayor rings Bell with sternly worded letter about giant screen

In this news scoop by Bob Mackin of the Vancouver Courier, the investigative reporter acquires and publishes a letter from Mayor Gregor Robertson to PavCo Minister Pat Bell for all to see.  In the impressively sternly worded letter, the Mayor declares that the giant video screen at Terry Fox Plaza “is not in compliance with our sign By-law” and emphasises that “This sign is already the source of significant complaints due to its impact on the neighbours”.  Furthermore, the Mayor insists that “Minister, I would ask that you direct your officials at PavCo to…bring your signage into compliance with our Bylaw”.  This revealing letter leaves no doubt whatsoever that the Mayor wants the giant screen taken down.  Read Bob Mackin’s full story at:  http://2010goldrush.blogspot.com/2011/12/mayor-rings-bell-with-letter-about.html

(Please click on the Mayor’s letter here below to enlarge the text)


Monday 26 December 2011

Residents call for removal of illegal screen - Concerns rise over drop in property value

The following story in Vancouver’s largest Chinese language newspaper about the giant video screen describes how property values of hundreds of homes facing Terry Fox Plaza are expected to decrease significantly as a result of PavCo erecting the giant video screen.  The story explains that those property owners worried about the ill-health effects on their families of continuous daily exposure to the incessant flashing Telus and Budweiser advertising are also now expecting to have great difficulty in selling their homes.  – Ask yourself honestly: Would you buy a home for your family which is facing a giant flashing video advertising screen?

The Sing Tao story continues by reporting that Vancouver City Mayor Gregor Robertson has requested of the PavCo Minister (Pat Bell) that he instruct PavCo to comply with City By-laws (effectively calling for the removal of the screen).  The story ends by describing how local residents John Kang and Jason Hathaway are negatively affected, both directly and indirectly, by the giant video screen.

By DAVID JANG, SING TAO NEWS
December 22, 2011
居民促拆體育館強光熒幕 轟違溫市府附例 憂物業價



Wednesday 14 December 2011

‘Vancouver's most unwanted night light’ - Provincial Officials thumb their noses at Vancouver Residents

In the following 24 Hours Vancouver news story, PavCo Minister Pat Bell’s disingenuous and misleading responses about the giant video screen at Terry Fox Plaza are further exposed.  When taking stock of opinions on the subject, at last count:  The Vancouver City Mayor has asked that the screen be removed, City Councillor Geoff Meggs has said that residents were “ambushed” with this giant screen in their living rooms, Vancouver City By-laws dictate that the screen must be dismantled, MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert has stated that the screen must be taken down, and the overwhelming local resident outcry has demanded that the giant screen be immediately removed. When will the BC Liberals stop this daily harassment into our homes? 


Residents in nearby towers complain the glare from the oversized screen at BC Place is disrupting their home life. (PHOTO COURTESY OF STOPBILLBOARD)

By ERICA BULMAN, 24 HOURS

The province appears to be thumbing its nose at Vancouver residents, allowing a giant BC Place screen to beam ads into nearby glass condos because the provincial land it sits on is exempt from city bylaws.

Residents around Terry Fox Plaza are up in arms, blinded by the flashing billboard, which is lit from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Many say the light wakes them, prevents children from sleeping, and floods living rooms in the early evenings.  The advertisement screen is nearly 2,000 sq. ft. although a city bylaw allows just 200 sq. ft.

“The land that PavCo operates on is provincial land … so they are exempted from it,” a Tourism, Jobs and Innovation Ministry official said Tuesday. 
Last month Minister of Tourism Pat Bell told the B.C. legislature PavCo is working with the city to fix the problem.  “Our senior staff say that’s not the case,” said Coun. Geoff Meggs, adding he can almost read the ads “with the naked eye” from his home in Fairview, nearly two kilometres away.
A ministry official told 24 hours Bell’s office sent a letter about the screen to Vancouver’s mayor Monday, but wouldn’t reveal its contents.

PavCo has reduced the screen’s operational time to 12 hours per day.  “They’ve changed the time and reduced the glare a little bit but I think they’re hoping just by ignoring it and saying it’s solved, the people who’ve had their homes in some ways wrecked, give up and move away,” said Vancouver West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, who represented the area before riding boundaries changed.  He said residents are rightly concerned their home values have depreciated.  No one from PavCo was available to comment.

“You can’t be sitting anywhere within your glass home without this penetrating light flashing off all the surfaces within your home. We close our blinds but the light still comes through,” said David Cookson, who leads the group Take the Giant Screen Down Now. “We’re not talking about lights that serve the community; it’s something put up simply to blast advertising.  “I understand the stadium is a good thing for the city’s economy. We all think the Whitecaps and Lions are great, we like entertainment, we like living in a bustling city, but this is so far beyond what’s considered acceptable."

Saturday 3 December 2011

PavCoCrime posts YouTube video showing Minister Pat Bell caught on tape covering up BC PavCo’s violation of City By-laws!

YouTube video producer/editor ‘PavCoCrime’ has posted a scandalous video on YouTube showing how Minister Pat Bell is trying to conceal PavCo’s violation of City By-laws, resulting in the destruction of quality of life, health and well-being for downtown Vancouver residents.  It was only a matter of time before videos like this would start surfacing!  Thank you PavCoCrime for your excellent work! (please click on the following YouTube link to view video)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmyB9XiKR44