Looking for funding in many different places, Atlanta Public Schools has stretched beyond its designated boundaries by placing advertising signs on Grady stadium without abiding by the City Of Atlanta sign and zoning laws. But according to city zoning officials, APS is exempt from those rules.

Grady High School is designated as a single-or-two family residential area, or a R-5 zone on the City Of Atlanta zoning map. According to the city sign ordinance it reads “general advertise signs prohibited, general advertising signs shall not be permitted.”

City of Atlanta Zoning Inspector Robert Adderly says that Atlanta Public Schools is not required to follow these laws and is exempt by a Board of Regents comparing Grady Stadium to the Braves Stadium.

“If they have their own Board of Regency, they are not bound by rules set forth by the City of Atlanta zoning ordinance,” Adderly said.  “In other words, if they put up certain signage we can’t go on their property and say take that sign down because they have their own governing party.”

Adderly compared Grady Stadium and its expansive advertising to the Braves Stadium and Turner Field, which is located in a more industrial neighborhood.

“The City of Atlanta does not have any authority over them,” Adderly said.   We couldn’t do anything about their signage.  We don’t have the regulation powers as we don’t regulate the signage for that property.”  When asked if he thought this kind of signage was appropriate for a neighborhood of single and two family homes, Adderly declined to comment.

When Jeff Beggs joined APS three years ago as director of the athletic department he created a new funding method for the athletic program, which he said, was “horrendous” when he first joined. Beggs was supported by Superintendent Erroll Davis and the Board of Education to change the no advertising policy for the 80-year-old stadium in order to create revenue.

Beggs set  guidelines concerning the act of advertising on the stadium and the fencing surrounding the proximity of both Grady and Lakewood Stadium.

These guideline include the prohibition of any signage that depicts the use of tobacco, any items unlawful for sale to minors, any items deemed pornographic in nature, any materials that attacks individual ethnic, religious or racial groups, anything that can be deemed as political or sectarian in nature and banners that contain pictures or words which depict the use of violence drugs or alcohol.

But nowhere in the guidelines does it discuss design, size, color, height or anything to do with how the sign would look.

“The more, the better,” Beggs said.  “And we were cognizant of those zoning laws.  But at the same time,  [advertisers] have provided us with a lot of resources to be able to put up what they put up.”

District 6 Councilman and vice-chair of the zoning committee, Alex Wan is now watching the growth of the signs and listening to the community to see if it is a concern because his specified zoning area covers Grady Stadium and half of Grady High School.

“I mean you wouldn’t want a government entity to own a piece of property and just do whatever [they] want with it,” Wan said. “There is a balance that needs to be struck.”

The city ordinance calls for signs to have uniformity, and Wan is confident in his good relationship with members of the school board, so that just in case things get out of hand he will be able to talk things out.

“The last thing the school board would want to do is to upset the surrounding neighborhoods. So if there was a vocal group and a lot of people that were having objections over it, it could warrant a conversation that could create solution at some point, Wan said. “It may not be a legal remedy but it could cause a conversation that leads to a remedy.”

Tina Myers, marketing director of Superior Plumbing located in Kennesaw, said that their company has asked whether their advertising was causing any negative feedback on the school within the community. Superior Plumbing is one of the main contributors to the amount advertisements. Superior has 25 blue and yellow signs of different sizes and heights surrounding and within Grady Stadium.

“I will tell you that there is always a concern to how people will react and whether they are happy,” Myers said.

But not everyone is happy with the plan.  Concerned Midtown resident and Grady parent Dana Persons believes that Grady can’t reach its fullest potential as a school to grow where the advertisements are just holding Grady back.

“It is all about the almighty dollar.  APS is always looking for ways to get more money, and they found one way and its just polluting Grady for APS’s benefit,” Persons said. “I guess I don’t think that [the stadium] should be on Grady property.  It should be in a system wide spot.  So Grady can reach its fullest potential as a school.”