Salmon Arm council was friendly enough, but not supportive of Telus installing something akin to an advertising billboard in the city’s downtown.
Telus was proposing to install a 46.4-square-metre corporate advertisement on the west side of its downtown building. The mount would have allowed the sign to be interchangeable.
In a memo to council, city development services director Kevin Pearson states Telus intends to change the advertisement each year, and was seeking a one-time approval from council rather than having to approach the city annually.
Under the city’s sign bylaw, the proposed sign falls under the definition of mural as billboards are off-site advertisements.
The sign bylaw says council has to approve murals, but there’s no size restrictions.
Billboard or mural, councillors took issue with the size, location and content of the advertisement, suggesting something more community friendly could be done.
“I think if they walked across the street to the Salmon Arm Art Gallery, to the district arts council, and they worked on a proposal to come up with a mural for the side of that building… I think we could do something really excellent on the side of that building,” commented Coun. Chad Eliason.