L.A city officials are inching forward with rules that could allow digital billboards to be lit again after being kept dark for years.
The same council committee working on a regulatory framework for digital signs aims to do the same for billboards, which a court has said can’t operate under current law.
An effort to regulate digital billboards a decade ago ended up in court when Summit Media, a small sign company based in Birmingham, Ala., alleged the regulations unfairly favored big national competitors. A judge agreed with Summit five years ago and ruled that roughly 100 digital billboards that already were operating in Los Angeles had to go dark.
The major outdoor advertising companies – chiefly ClearChannel Outdoor Inc. and Outfront Media Inc., both of New York, and Lamar Advertising Co. of Baton Rouge, La. – have since been pushing city officials to come up with a regulatory framework to once again allow digital billboards.
The City Council’s planning and land-use management committee last month directed staff to study several options that also take into account the concerns of neighborhood groups and safety advocates. Digital billboards generate revenue for their owners through advertising.
Such billboards have stirred controversy among some residents and others who consider them to be visual blight and say the billboards can distract drivers.
The proposals are in preliminary form, suggesting that city staff explore the feasibility of requirements such as sign companies taking down two conventional billboards for every digital one they put up. The initial proposals introduce the idea of limiting digital billboards to city-owned properties, where the city could exercise more control and command more revenue sharing.
A representative for ClearChannel Outdoor, Lamar and Outfront said her clients welcome the proposals.
“We are pleased that things finally seem to be moving forward,” said Stacy Miller, executive director of the Los Angeles Advertising Coalition. “What we’ve asked for this whole time is a process by which applications for digital billboards can be reviewed and acted upon.”
– Howard Fine
