Plzeň wants to significantly regulate advertisements in the center starting from next year

Plzeň - Starting next year, Plzeň aims to introduce significant regulation of outdoor advertising spaces, so-called visual smog, in its historical center and adjacent areas. By decree of the council and also through changes to the zoning plan, advertising banners on facades, bigboards, billboards, LED screens, and advertising benches will disappear from designated locations. The goal is to improve the quality of public space, clear it of distractions, and enhance the city's friendliness. Among large cities in the Czech Republic, Plzeň is the last - Prague, Brno, and Ostrava have already addressed visual smog in the past, said technical deputy mayor Pavel Bosák (Pirates) to journalists today.

The regulation pertains to the city’s heritage conservation area and adjacent spaces, such as the Pětatřicátníci park and parts of Klatovská and Americká streets. There are approximately 42 large-format banners on facades, 13 billboards, three large LED screens, and 57 advertising benches in this area.

"The embodiment of what troubles us the most is the area of Pětatřicátníci park. I stand in front of the Law Faculty, and right in front of me are two enormous banners. To my left, I would like to see two beautiful towers of the synagogue and the old theater in the background, but instead, I see a glowing screen and alongside it about six or maybe ten banners, and below that, businesses marked in garish colors. That’s what annoys me as a resident of Plzeň, and I would like to feel that I'm in some other European metropolis where visual smog is already regulated," said Bosák.

The regulation will be addressed by an impending change to the zoning plan, which will cover advertising structures larger than eight square meters, as well as a city council decree that will focus on banners and other selected advertisements that do not have the character of a building. "Conversely, the restrictions do not apply to poster boards, poster rolls, display cases, rotundas, lampposts, as well as public collections organized under special regulations, gatherings, street parades, and demonstrations called under special legal regulations, and sporting, cultural, educational, and charitable events," listed Irena Vostracká, director of the Department of Concept and Development of the City of Plzeň.

According to Mayor Roman Zarzycký (ANO), the previous city administration was unsuccessful in regulating advertising. He believes that from January 1st next year, at least the advertising banners on buildings will disappear from the center. "I believe that gradually all market players will adapt to this regulation; it is a matter in which the public interest predominates," he said.

The previous coalition also focused on limiting visual smog. Five years ago, a manual was created, but it was only mandatory for the city and its organizations, not for the private sector, said former mayor and now opposition councilor Pavel Šindelář (ODS) to ČTK. He admitted that private entities did not follow the manual very strictly back then. The new proposal from the current city leadership is not yet known in detail. "Generally, I agree with the regulation of advertising, and we probably agree that large-format billboards do not belong in the center of the city; however, the question remains how this intervention affects private ownership," Šindelář said. According to Bosák, cities that have already decided on regulation have paved the way. "And because there are precedents from other cities, we know that we are relatively safe regarding arbitrations or any legal disputes," he stated.

Architect Petr Klíma, who participated in the restriction of advertising years ago through the association Pěstuj prostor, also welcomes the regulation of visual smog. "It is a step in the right direction; it is on a smaller scale than the area for which manuals were created years ago," he told ČTK. He believes, however, that this is just the first step.