Call Number:

SCRC 645

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

• 43.25 linear feet (35 boxes)
• 118 gigabytes (37,448 digital files)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Scenic Philadelphia Records, SCRC 645, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1938-2020 (inclusive) and 1990-2018 (bulk)

Creator:

Scenic Philadelphia and Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight

Form:

Born digital, Case files, Clippings, Correspondence, DVDs, Financial records, Hard drives, Legal documents, Maps, Minutes (administrative records), PDF, Reports, Administrative records, Bylaws (administrative records), Compact discs, Printed ephemera, Floppy disks, Newsletters, Pamphlets, Photocopies, Photographs, Press releases, Publications, Vertical files, and Web sites

Abstract:

Scenic Philadelphia worked "to promote healthy, vibrant and beautiful public spaces throughout all of Philadelphia through the use of education, advocacy and legal action from the sidewalk to the skyline." It began in 1990 as a grassroots coalition of concerned citizens and neighborhood organizations called the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB); its primary focus was on billboard control and removal. SCRUB successfully lobbied Philadelphia City Council to pass the Billboard Control Act of 1991 - one of the strongest municipal control laws in the country. Over the next ten years, it fought off telecommunications towers, billboards, electronic and digital displays, and protected parklands and public spaces. In 2000, SCRUB incorporated. It expanded its mission and hired Mary Tracy as its full time Executive Director. In 2015, SCRUB became Scenic Philadelphia, an affiliate of the national organization, Scenic America.

Scenic Philadelphia connected the aesthetics of a place with quality of life and found that billboards contributed to neighborhood decline. In Belmont, Mantua, Bridesburg, and Tacony, as well as Germantown and Mount Airy neighborhoods, SCRUB partnered with community groups to conduct billboard surveys and commercial corridor improvement projects. It also kept neighborhoods across the city informed about Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) hearings that impacted their communities and appealed many variances that the ZBA granted on their behalf.

Scenic Philadelphia worked closely with Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) to enforce billboard laws. It also completed a city-wide billboard inventory on L&I's behalf. Scenic Philadelphia studied the economic impact of billboards and published "Beyond Aesthetics: How Billboards Affect Economic Prosperity," a study that included statistical analysis of the adverse impact of billboard advertising and regulations on real estate prices, home values, poverty, and vacancy rates.

Scenic Philadelphia worked with pro-bono attorneys who successfully litigated for the removal of billboards throughout Philadelphia, but its impact went beyond. Several cases set legal precedents that protected publicly owned lands, as well as Philadelphians' basic rights to challenge zoning laws and unwanted development more broadly. In 1998, SCRUB won the landmark case that established that any Philadelphia taxpayer had legal standing to bring a zoning issue to court. Then in 2008, by engaging community partners and leveraging the law, Scenic Philadelphia protected 18 acres of public parkland at Burholme Park from being appropriated for private development.

The Scenic Philadelphia Records document the work of Scenic Philadelphia and its predecessor, the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB), from 1990 to 2018. It is divided into five series that together document its efforts to control billboards and other outdoor advertising and protect the visual environment throughout Philadelphia. This collection includes both paper and electronic records.

The collection is arranged into 5 series as follows:

• Series 1: Administrative records, 1988-2018
• Series 2: Subject and project files, 1967-2016, bulk: 1990-2016
• Series 3: Case and project files, 1959-2018, bulk: 1990-2018
• Series 4: Scenic America records, 1978-2015, bulk: 1990-2015
• Series 5. Electronic records, circa 2000-2018
• Subseries 5.1: Administrative records, circa 2000-2018
• Subseries 5.2: Subject files, circa 2000-2018
• Subseries 5.3: Case files, circa 2000-2018
• Subseries 5.4: Scenic America records, circa 2000-2018
• Subseries 5.5: Electronic records on storage media, circa 2000-2018