Prague wants to limit advertisements on buildings in the heritage preservation area

Prague - The capital city wants to limit advertisements on buildings in the heritage conservation area. This week, the city council approved a change to the regulation that allows this. The metropolis is concerned that many advertisements only cover the poor condition of the building, regardless of whether the object is being repaired. The city wants to prevent this. The amendment will now be reviewed by the city districts and relevant authorities.
According to Deputy Mayor Rudolf Blažek (ODS), who proposed the change, the initiative came from the Prague 1 city hall, which considers the current definition of possible advertisement placement to be too broad.
Currently, according to the Mayor of Prague 1, Filip Dvořák (ODS), it is possible for an advertisement banner to be hung on the building facade for the duration of the building permit. "This leniency has been misused by many building owners," Dvořák remarked. Therefore, according to him, the city hall requested a tightening of the exceptions for advertisement placement.
Thus, advertisements would only be allowed to be placed on scaffolding that stands on public roads, not on scaffolding attached to the building or directly on the façade, and only during the construction activities on the building's exterior. Moreover, if the builder wants to set up scaffolding on the road, they must have a contract with the city. The city hall could thus ensure in the contract that, for example, the advertisement would not be vulgar.
"We agree with this opinion, because in the past it has been shown that performing any construction work anywhere in the building, or even if de jure the construction is ongoing, but de facto the construction work is halted, is taken as an excuse to cover the building with an advertisement banner," Blažek stated.
The city already limited the placement of advertisements in 2007; however, some advertising banners did not disappear. Several months after the restriction, for example, they remained at the Karlovy lázně. The regulation was preceded by a dispute over a banner that covered the statue of Jan Hus in the Old Town Square. According to the city, the lease agreement for the area was disadvantageous, while the city gallery stated that it covered restoration work on the sculpture group.