A company that proposed putting up advertising every half-mile along the Putnam Trailway has withdrawn its controversial plan, reports LoHud.com columnist David McKay Wilson.
The proposal was on the agenda of the Physical Services Committee of the Putnam County Board of Legislators, which met last night. Opponents of the plan had called for a big audience turnout.
The controversial plan was proposed to both Westchester and Putnam county officials. BikePath County Inc. wanted to place signs—and sell ad space on those signs—every half-mile on the Putnam Trailway and the Westchester North and South County Trailways, most of which were created from abandoned railroad rights-of way.
Opponents questioned, among other things, the need for the signs, how much room the ads would take up, the spacing of the signs and the commercialization of the nature trails.
Westchester dropped the plan earlier this month.
Wilson, who writes the Tax Watch column for The Journal News and is both a Putnam resident and a cyclist, has been covering the proposal extensively.
Writing about the outcome of Putnam's July 22 meeting on Facebook, Wilson said, "In a way, I was surprised. But in another way, I saw it coming. There was another room full of citizens who didn't want their woods commercialized. Support from the business community was dwindling. County Executive Odell was taking some heavy hits. It was very unpopular - and for what end? To funnel some money into the pockets of her politically connected friends? She needed to cut her losses..."
Opponents of the proposal were thrilled. "Congrats to all of the good people of Putnam County! Thank you for keeping the beauty of the natural world on the Trailway," wrote Peter McCartt in response to Wilson's second Facebook post.
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