The Authorities of the City have begun works on the by-laws restricting billboarding within public space. It has been possible due to the enactment of the landscape by-laws in September which enables cities to have more powers in respect of landscape protection.
This resolution regulates the number and the size of advertising media, their quality and materials they are made from. Apart from that, the law recognises urban areas where the billboards can be placed and regulates fees for placing advertisements.
Our aim is to clear urban space – City Centre and the Old Town in particular – which are landmarks of Lublin. Old tenement houses as Historic Monument are our heritage that needs to be protected. The landscape resolution enables us to introduce local by-laws therefore we commence work on preparing the document that would explicitly indicate guidelines on how to shape urban space and how to react against marring the beauty of the city. A substantial number of land use plans, that have been enacted so far, do not fully address this issue. Therefore, we want to start working as soon as possible – says Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin City.
A task group comprising employees of the following departments (Planning Department, Architecture and Engineering Department, Municipal Art Conservationist Bureau, Roads and Bridges Department, and Taxation Department) will draw up the document. Their proposals will be consulted with external experts, circles interested in the details of the act, and Lublin residents. After that, a draft resolution will undergo public consultation.
We would like to define what kind of billboards will be allowed in the city. We want to reduce the number of billboards within the historic complex of the Old Town and the City Centre, as well as along the main traffic routes. The main focus will be put on the locations where the billboards can be placed and their maximum size on the building facade. New regulation allows introduction of advertising charges and fines that are levied for an unauthorised placing of the billboards within urban space – says Hubert Mącik, Municipal Art Conservationist.
The maximum charge imposed by the law amounts to 2.50 zł a day per advertising medium or 20 gr for a square metre of the surface area. The financial punishment will be also imposed if an advertisement does not meet the established regulations (40 times the charge stipulated by the resolution).
The detailed regulations should be based on the earlier formulated and current rules that are applicable on the zoning of the urban block in Kapucyńska Street and Peowiaków Street, as well as Podzamcze.
Warszawa, Łódź, Poznań and Rzeszów have displayed their willingness to make use of the tools provided in this legal regulation.
