Billboards

From EHDA President, Bill Bullock

Last summer in response to some confusion about the language in the 1999 billboard amendment and the possible impact on the amendment of a pending law suit between two billboard companies, Clear Channel and Adworks, the City Council passed a six-month moratorium on the construction of new billboards. It formed an ad hoc committee to study the issue and present to the Council an improved amendment that reflected the Council's original intent in the '99 amendment. This committee included several Council members in addition to representatives of the industry, OPD staff and consultants, and citizen and neighborhood groups.

The revised amendment that came out of this committee would have allowed new billboards to be built only along "U.S. Interstate Highways." As in the original '99 revision, existing, conforming billboards in other parts of the City would not have to be removed, but they could not be replaced once they reached the end of their useful economic life and were taken down. Both Councilwoman Holt and Councilman Peete agreed that the proposed amendment was consistent with the Council's intent in the '99 amendment to reduce the number of billboards in the City over time.

However, in an attempt to make the language in a paragraph carried over from the '99 amendment dealing with the size of billboards along "U.S. Highways and interstate highways" consistent with the rest on the revised amendment, Councilman Peete came to feel that the Council should be presented with two options. One would allow the construction of new billboards only on U.S. Interstate Highways, while the second would allow new signs to be built on both U.S. Interstate Highways and U.S. Highways. The revised amendment with the two options is due to go to the Council on January 17th for the third and final reading.

The inclusion of "U.S. Highways" would of course be a great disappointment to many of us since it would greatly increase the areas where new billboards could be built. It would include Union, parts of Poplar, Bellevue, and Lamar along with the other U.S. Highways throughout the City. We might still see a gradual reduction in billboards on streets such as Central, Madison, and Park, but overall we might actually see an increase as the billboard companies rush to position themselves on Union, Poplar, and other highways.

This issue is important not only for mid-town neighborhoods because of its potential impact of the surrounding commercial areas, but also for the City as a whole. If you would like to see new billboards limited to interstates and a gradual reduction in signs elsewhere, please call, write, or email our district and at large Council members and any others that you know or think might be sympathetic. To email Council members, click here.