But some people do have a bit of a negative reaction to it โ they say that we should spend our time doing something more worthy, because they don't think that anything's going to happen from us doing this
This is my take pretty much. For the community it's an eyesore, but for the owners it's about money. No one is going to spend a heap of money, or sell for less than market value, just because there's a petition.
If everyone signing the petition chipped in $1,000 that would solve the problem.