Billboard mania ripples across Sun City

Bill Szentmiklosi has received the calls from homeowners concerned about the billboards popping up in Sun City.

He tells them the same thing: "The billboards are located on commercial property and so we have no say in them," said the director of compliance for the Sun City Home Owners Association. "Those billboards are not in our control."

The billboards, operated by Relay Outdoor Advertising, are in three locations: the southwest corner of 99th Avenue and Greenway Road; the southeast corner of 103rd and Grand avenues; and the southeast corner of Del Webb Boulevard and Talisman Road.

The company also has two billboards in Sun City West, on Camino del Sol between 137th Drive and Spanish Garden Drive and on the corner of Meeker Boulevard and Spanish Garden Drive.

Like Sun City, Sun City West officials also have worked to keep billboards from cropping up on the community’s landscape, but they have not met with much success. They were unable to reach a billboard ban with county officials last year and also were defeated in the Legislature, where a bill to ban billboards in age-restricted communities went down to defeat.

While SCHOA may not have any control over the billboards, Szentmiklosi did say SCHOA has worked closely with commercial properties in the past.

"We have brought our concerns to management at commercial properties . . . and gotten positive results," Szentmiklosi said. "Things like having dead trees removed or general cleanup sort of stuff. So it isn’t like we can’t or won’t go to the property management if we think there is a problem."

Szentmiklosi said the billboard at Greenway and 99th went up about two weeks ago, and the other two signs not long before that. Relay Outdoor could not be reached for comment.

There is a billboard Szentmiklosi said SCHOA is looking at, but it is not one of those three. A billboard at Bell Road and Lindgren Avenue has become a point of contention for the neighborhood.

"The county is the group handling this, but my understanding is the billboard was put up on a temporary permit, which has since expired," Szentmiklosi said. "There is some question about whether that permit will be renewed with a new group."

Szentmiklosi said the billboard went up when Sun City Festival opened.

"The neighbors are telling us it’s an eyesore, and they want it removed," he said. "Like I said, the county is handling the situation, but we’re doing our best to keep ourselves informed."

Jeff Dempsey may be reached at 623-876-2531 or jdempsey@yourwestvalley.com.