issue though, the primary issue is I have no protection. As soon as it is replaced it will
be vandalized again.
Moermond: I hear you want more time, I hear you feel kind of hopeless about the
situation due to the repeated vandalism, and you also want the police to protect the
billboards as opposed to fixing them repeatedly.
Cherner: that’s correct. It is the same people doing it. One time they were caught and
let go.
Moermond: I can’t speak to that, I am not the criminal justice system.
Cherner: I saw the orders from the City came and I saw them in the letter on the roofs,
they told me they were going to cover it. I said no, remove the canvas. They insisted
on painting the black over it.
Morrow: this matter was brought to our attention July 21 when our Executive Director
Leah brought the matter from Spruce Tree because they’ve been trying to have
something done about the billboards and graffiti. I used Google Streetview when
preparing the letter and it goes back 4 years. Looking at St. Paul’s sign ordinance, it
does look to me that it could be considered an unsightly sign and quite possibly since
it hasn’t changed for 4 years, an abandoned sign and the City’s instructions in those
circumstances are to provide a 15 day notice for repair or removal. For abandoned
signs notice it will be removed. Your neighbors, the DC, would like the signs removed.
They aren’t contributing to the neighborhood. You have a several million-dollar loon
looking right at your billboards. People visiting see both, it is a neighborhood quality
issue. We’re trying to get that corner to come back and your billboards are a negative
rather than a positive.
Leah Timberlake-Sullivan: I office in the Spruce Tree Center. I’m here on behalf of
them and the many champion businesses at Snelling and University. United Village,
Hot Works, the bookstore. So many businesses acting as a team for the corridor. A
corridor succeeds when you have heavy lifters pulling momentum up and declines when
you have inactive bad faith operators. My concern is for the whole of the corridor. 4
years later to negotiate how to remediate when all the neighbors also suffer graffiti. We
can’t have this type of lag in the system. I agree there are areas for the City to
improve, but I can’t condone the weight it puts on follow businesses to allow this to go
on for 4 years. I know its difficult but the only way to move forward is to band together
and hold standards together. They operate in good faith in the best of their capacity. It
isn’t fair to the people trying to build a corridor to allow this to go on any further. It is an
injustice to them. I regret to say, but I haven’t heard today anything that makes me
think there’s a commitment to the area that things would be different in the future. I
ask you to consider the area businesses putting in the work. They would like this
removed.
Moermond: as the District Council do you facilitate conversation around the area
businesses and police, how can Mr. Cherner be part of that and benefit from his
neighbors’ experience.
Leah Timberlake-Sullivan: the police are coming tonight to speak about the
neighborhood safe and strong initiative. UPDC will be launching surveys to the area
businesses about their feeling about relationships with the City. Today we’re talking
about the sign and it does need to be addressed. You can feel the sense of unfairness
in the letter by Spruce Tree. We’re giving standards and under the rule system. What
is going on here? This really gets down to if 4 years isn’t enough for the City to
intervene, what is? Decisive response is what brings momentum to the project. This
doesn’t appear to be a complicated situation. You have a champion of the corridor
