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No word on how to censor billboards

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE Porn star Jesse Jane may be popular with some folks, but not with Alderman George Moreau or with the people who have complained to him about her image on a billboard which can be seen on I-391.

Moreau told The Chicopee Herald last week that he has yet to hear from the city's Law Department about whether or not it would be legal for the city to add a step in the special permitting procedure for billboards that would regulate content.

Moreau would like to see the billboard removed.

The billboard is for a Connecticut adult business called VIP with locations in Hartford and Orange. Although the photograph of the porn star only shows her head and shoulders and the copy is not explicit in description of the store's goods, Moreau said he has received calls from concerned parents and grandparents. The callers say the billboard raises questions from young children.

Moreau said he has also been told about a city school bus that drives past the billboard and that the driver has asked questions about the appropriateness of the billboard.

The city has approximately 59 billboard images and there are no regulations about the content of those images.

Moreau said that he has looked at the ordinances of other communities and none have guidelines.

"Everyone is worried about First Amendments rights," he said.

A call to the billboard company, RPC Media of Shrewsbury, was answered by a woman who refused to identify herself for publication. She said the company reviews billboard content on an "case by case basis," but she said there were no overall guidelines.

She said she couldn't say how long the billboard would be up and when asked why a Connecticut adult product store would advertise in Chicopee, she said the company was trying to reach more potential customers.