A City of Vancouver billboard ban that dates back to the 1970s seems to carry a lot of weight with Canada's top court — and will be an even heavier financial burden for the owners of a giant ad in the city.

The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the appeal of Robert Kollen and Mari Louise Piercey, ending a nearly decade-long battle to save their sign atop the Lee Building at Main Street and Broadway, a major Vancouver intersection.

Owners of the Lee Building at the corner of West Broadway and Main Street in Vancouver have lost their appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to save this giant billboard atop the Lee Building.
(CBC)

With the rejection of the appeal and the awarding of costs to the city, the owners now have 30 days to remove the sign and another 18 months to dismantle its massive supports.

The billboard brings in $8,000 a month in revenue, but it's estimated it will cost suite owners in the Lee Building as much as $100,000 to remove the support structures from the roof.

It is not known how much in legal fees the failed court cases have cost the building's owners.

Carlene Robbins, the City of Vancouver's former manager of bylaw administration, called the decision a major victory.

"It means that we can proceed with enforcing other legal non-conforming signs that we've held off until the decision on the Lee Building was resolved," said Robbins on Thursday.

Vancouver banned billboards in the '70s, but the huge sign was erected on the Lee Building in 1998, beginning a lengthy court battle.

In December 2005 the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the big billboard contravened a city bylaw.

The B.C. Court of Appeal also ordered the giant ad removed, prompting the owners to take the matter to Canada's highest court.

With files from the Canadian Press