Grebow v. Mayor of Baltimore

Henderson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents ¿'"narrow question of statutory construction. The Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals of Baltimore City denied an application of the appellant for permission to retain two non-illumiriated advertising signs painted on the side brick wall of his building at 2242 Druid Hill Avenue, which constituted a non-conforming use in a residential district. He applied to the Zoning Commissioner for such permission, after he received notice to remove the painted signs from the surface of the wall.

The decision was affirmed on appeal to the Baltimore City Court. The basis of the Board’s decision was that the signs fell within the terms of the Baltimore City Ordinance No. 711, sec. 13 (d), which provides: “Billboards and poster boards situated in Residential and Office Use Districts and Residential Use Districts shall be removed by April 5, 1955 * * *.” The appellant contends that the language of the Ordinance is so clear as to leave no room for construction. The term “billboard” is in common use, and has been judicially defined as “an erection annexed to the land in the nature of a fence for the purpose of posting advertising, bills, and posters * * Cochrane v. McDermott Advertising Agency, 60 So. 421 (Ala. App.); Randall v. Atlanta Advertising Service, 125 S. E. 462, 463 (Ga.).

It has also been said that “ ‘poster boards’ * * * are thin walls or screens having a ³³⁶ sheet iron surface over a wooden framework with supports set in the ground.” General Outdoor Adv. Co. v. Department of Public Wks., 193 N. E. 799, 809 (Mass.). Neither definition would seem to be broad enough to include an advertising sign which is simply painted upon the wall of a building without any structural support that could properly be described as a “board”. There was also uncontradicted testimony in the instant case that the terms “billboard” and “poster board” are known in the trade as structures erected for the sole purpose of displaying paper posters pasted thereon.

Ordinarily, billboard operators do not employ sign painters. In other jurisdictions having ordinances aimed at the removal of outdoor advertising, such