POLICY REPORT
OTHER

Date: August 26, 1999
Author/Local: T. Kyle, 6011
RTS No. 00457

CC File No. 5766
CS&B Date: September 16, 1999

TO:	Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM:	General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	Street Banner Policy

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT the following groups be permitted to have commercial content and/or third party sponsorship in their banners hung in the street right-of-way:

… non-profit events and organizations
… local business associations
… commercial events and organizations

B. THAT Council approve a $20 per banner per month rental fee for banners with a commercial content and/or logo hung in the street right-of-way, with the following exceptions:

… rental fee reduced by 50% for a banner from a non-profit event or organization, and for local business associations.
… rental fee waived if no commercial content and/or logo on the banner.

C. THAT Council approve a $200 application fee for banners hung in the street right-of-way. This fee would be waived for non-profit events and organizations and local business associations, if the banner has no commercial content and/or logo, and the fee would be reduced by 50% for non-profit groups and local business associations if the banner contains commercial content and/or logo.

D. THAT the General Manager of Engineering Services be granted the authority to approve sponsors on banners, within the guidelines as laid out in this report.

E. THAT staff report back to Council in one year on experience with the sponsorship policy, including review of the fees.

F. THAT the Summer Banner Program continue in its present format without sponsorship.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Engineering Services recommends the approval of the above.

CITY MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The central policy issue to be decided by Council is whether or not advertising of corporate sponsorship should be expanded to banners that are used on the streets. If Council wishes to move in that direction, recommendations A, B, C, D, E provide a basis upon which to do so.

POLICY

When dealing with a report on Corporate Sponsorship on November 7, 1997, Council approved the guiding principles of a City sponsorship program and approved the implementation of a sponsorship program for the acquisition of goods and services and revenue generation opportunities.

On October 1, 1998, Council approved corporate sponsorship of the street banner program as one of a number of revenue and expenditure adjustments to the 1999 Operating Budget.

On January 7, 1999, Council approved corporate sponsorship for the 1999 summer banner program on a one-year trial basis permitting the display of corporate logos subject to a report back for approval of the corporate sponsor and sponsor design. Council also asked for a report back on sponsorship of banners at times or locations where the summer banners are not displayed.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to:

- Recommend continuing the Summer Banner Program without sponsorship.

- Recommend a policy which in return for a fee, would allow the use of commercial text or logos on banners outside of the Summer Banner Program.

BACKGROUND

Currently, the City banner hardware is available for use by various groups from October until May. There are several regular users of the City banner space in the winter months, which are listed in Appendix A. These users pay for the costs of producing, installing and removing the banners. Also, several community and business groups have paid for banner hardware to be installed on poles, and use this banner space to place their own banners. All of the banners installed are subject to City approval and currently no third party sponsorship is allowed unless specifically approved by Council.

In recent years, there has been increased interest in banner sponsorship. In the past, Council approved the APEC ‘97 banners and the Grey Cup banners that had a corporate sponsor’s logo at the bottom. Earlier this year, Council asked for clarification on the City’s banner policy. It was felt that banners such as Granville Island’s on the Cambie Bridge, contained commercial content. The NHL banners, with the NHL logo put up for the NHL All-stars game in January 1998, would also have fallen into this category.

DISCUSSION

This report recommends that outside groups, such as non-profit events and organizations, local business associations and commercial events and organizations, be permitted to have sponsor logos or other text with commercial content on their banners, subject to paying street rental fees. The sponsor logo or text with commercial content would be subject to size guidelines as determined by the City (maximum of 20% of banner space or a separate banner tab), and each sponsor would also be required to be approved by the City.

Generally, commercial content would be considered to include text that involves promotion on behalf of a for-profit organization or event. It is proposed that it be at the discretion of the General Manager of Engineering Services, as to whether there is a commercial content on the banner. It is not the intention of the City to permit banners that solely advertise a product, such as a soft drink, on the right-of-way.

The following examples will further clarify what the General Manager of Engineering Services would deem to be text with commercial content or logos. Any banners put up by local business associations within the business area, with the name of the business association or community area, would not be considered commercial. The Granville Island banners would be considered to have commercial content because they were displayed outside of Granville Island. The logo or name of a non-profit applicant, such as Canuck Place, or the Heart & Stroke Foundation, would not be considered commercial. Also there may be instances where a graphic may be considered commercial. For example, a banner design submitted by Molson Indy that has graphics of indy cars but no text, would be considered commercial even though it does not have any text.

If there is text with commercial content or a logo on the banner, the banner is being used for a commercial purpose. A per banner per month fee that approximates the market value of the space for these purposes, would ensure that municipal taxpayers receive a fair return on the for-profit use of City streets. Toronto, which has a similar program, charges a rental fee of $20 per banner per month. It is proposed that the City initially use the same rental and staff report back in one year summarizing experience with the program including a fee review.

Additionally, to ensure that each applicant is serious about their banner request, and to pay for the amount of staff time spent approving banner designs, sponsors, coordinating installation, maintenance and removal, an application fee is proposed. If sponsors are allowed on the banners, it is expected that the number of requests will increase as well. A $200 application fee will cover the staff time spent on each applicant. The applicant will also be responsible for the costs of production, installation, removal and the replacement of damaged banners.

City banner hardware used for the summer program will continue to be reserved for that purpose. During the winter period, it is proposed that various groups, as defined in this report, be permitted to reserve space on the same hardware subject to payment of the application fees and prepayment of one month of rental fees. Non-profit groups will be given priority use of the banner space. If there have been no requests to use the banner spaces by non-profit events and organizations within 6 months of the space being available, then these banner spaces will be available to other groups.

The $20 per banner per month rental fee and the $200 application fee, may cause a hardship for some groups to fund banner programs. Also, not every group will want to have commercial content or a logo on their banner. Therefore, as outlined below, there are some proposed discounts and exemptions for certain groups.

Non-Profit Events and Organizations

Non-profit organizations are considered to be organizations such as the Year of the Older Persons and sponsors of events such as the Vancouver Sun Run and the Keep Vancouver Spectacular program. To be considered non-profit , the applicant must be a registered non-profit society in British Columbia and use the banner space for the purpose of promoting a charitable, public or special community event.

For banners from a non-profit applicant, that do not have a commercial advertising component proposed, all fees should be waived. Where there is a commercial advertising component, it is recommended that the application fee and the rental fee be applied, but discounted at 50%. If the non-profit applicant is representing a commercial event or organization, the discounts will not be applicable.

Local Business Associations

Currently several business improvement associations throughout the City put up banners to promote their local business area. For banners from a business improvement association applicant, that do not have a commercial advertising component proposed, the rental fees and application fees will be waived provided that the banner is displayed in the area of the association. Where there is a commercial advertising component, it is recommended that the application fee and the rental fee be applied, but at a discount of 50%.

Commercial Events and Organizations

Commercial events and organizations such as the Molson Indy and Pacific Centre currently put up banners. It will be at the discretion of the General Manager of Engineering Services as to what constitutes commercial content. The names and logos of companies or organizations appearing on the banners must be incidental to the message of the banner. For banners from a commercial event or organization applicant, that do not have a commercial advertising component, the rental fees would be waived, but the application fee would be applied. Where there is a commercial advertising component, it is recommended that both the application fee and the rental fee be applied.

Summary of the Banner Policy

The following table summarizes the above information on the banner sponsorship policy.

Applicant Category	Commercial Content and or Logo	Application Fee	Rental Fee
Non-Profit Events	Yes	50%	50%
and Organizations	No	Waived	Waived
Local Business	Yes	50%	50%
Associations	No	Waived	Waived
Commercial Events	Yes	Full	Full
and Organizations	No	Full	Waived

General Manager of Engineering Services to Approve Banner Sponsors

Current policy states that all sponsorship proposals will be brought to Council for approval. With the approval of a commercial content and/or logos on banners for non-profit events and organizations, local business associations, and commercial events and organizations the number of requests could potentially be quite large. The requirement to bring each request to Council for approval could result in a significant delay in processing banner requests. It is requested that the General Manager of Engineering Services be granted the authority to approve the sponsors, approve the overall banner design, determine the commercial content of the banners and the length of time the banners be allowed to remain on the street. The sponsorship policy outlined in the November 7, 1997 report on sponsorship will be used as a guide, where applicable.

The table in Appendix A outlines past and present requests for banners. Each request indicates the applicant status, notes if the General Manager of Engineering Services considers the banner to have commercial content, or if the banner has a third party sponsor logo, and what proposed rental fee and application fees would be applicable to the applicant.

There are currently two applicants that are interested in the possibility of installing banners with sponsor logos this fall. The International Year of the Older Persons is interested in putting up banners that would have a sponsors logo, along Cambie Street and Cambie Bridge in October. The International Year of the Older Persons is a non-profit group so the application fee and the rental fees would be discounted by 50%. Tourism Vancouver is interested in putting up banners that would have a sponsors logo along Georgia Street in October to promote the entertainment season in Vancouver. Tourism Vancouver is a non-profit group therefore the application fee and the rental fees would be discounted at 50%.

SUMMER BANNER PROGRAM

Further to Council direction on January 7, 1999, a request for proposal (RFP) was sent out asking for varying degrees of sponsor exposure for the summer banner program and a proposed winter banner program. There were no submissions to this RFP and as a result the summer banner program continued this year without sponsorship. Another revised RFP was sent out, but for the proposed winter program only. There were no submissions to this RFP and comments from the vendors indicated that because of the uncertainty of a proposed program no proposals were submitted. The sponsorship policy noted in this report will allow groups to sponsor banners on the basis of a set fee. If demand for banner space grows, the fee could be adjusted to reflect demand or another RFP could be issued at that time.

It is being recommended that the City no longer pursue sponsors for the summer banner program at this time due to the lack of interest and the continued concerns of the Street Decoration Committee. The Street Decoration Committee has, for many years, on a voluntary basis, selected artists and developed banners for the successful Summer Banner Program. The artists also participate on a volunteer basis. There is a potential to generate revenue with the fees indicated in this report, but it is dependent on the interest of other groups in utilizing the banner space outside of the Summer Banner Program.

CONCLUSION

It is recommended that non-profit events and organizations, commercial events and organizations and local business associations be permitted to have commercial content and/or a sponsor’s logo in their banners, with the General Manager of Engineering Services approving the sponsors and the banner designs. Additionally, an application fee and a rental fee, depending on type of applicant and commercial content and/or logo is recommended.

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APPENDIX A - Applicant Summary

Past Applicants

*Regular users of City banner hardware

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New Applicants and Requests

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