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City Issues Concerning Digital Billboards

City Issues Concerning Digital Billboards. Scenic Texas Presentation to the City of Jersey Village April 9, 2013. Digital Billboards by the Numbers. About 4,000 in the U.S.; four states have no billboards at all—Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont. 142 of the 4,000 are in Texas.

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City Issues Concerning Digital Billboards

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  1. City Issues Concerning Digital Billboards Scenic Texas Presentation to the City of Jersey Village April 9, 2013

  2. Digital Billboards by the Numbers About 4,000 in the U.S.; four states have no billboards at all—Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont 142 of the 4,000 are in Texas Those 142 are in 53 TX cities (out of 1,215) or 4.4%, leaving 95.6% cities that have none.

  3. Why would a city consider this issue? Private interest—99.9% • A billboard company found lucrative sites • Needs city approval • Public interest---seen one time in Anaheim, CA • City wants to improve the visual character

  4. 1. Citizen input re: community appearance March 12, 2013, Palmer Township, PA: “Palmer Township officials got an earful from residents.” March 30, 2013, Peabody, MA: “It’s an absolute calamity,” Anne Manning-Martin later said. . . “You can see it from Mars. We were told that we wouldn’t be able to see it at all. We want it down.” March 26, 2013, Chicago, IL: Within six months after Mayor Rahm Emanuel cut a deal to lease city property for commercial advertising in exchange for $$, a new ordinance is being pushed by 14 alderman.

  5. Los Angeles

  6. El Paso

  7. 2. Safety, government-funded 1) Sweden: driver dwell times significantly longer for digital billboards than static signs. Government ordered removal of all billboards. 2) Israel: dramatic decrease in crashes on a Tel Aviv road when billboards were covered up during a 3-year study.Crashes with injury/fatality:2006 40 billboards visible2007 55 billboards visible2008 17 (billboards covered) 1) Sweden: driver dwell times significantly longer for digital billboards than static signs. Government ordered removal. http://bit.ly/ZYjRT7

  8. 3) UMass Amherst: negative effect of external distractions. “It is clear that both experienced & younger drivers are at elevated risks of getting in a crash when they are looking away from the forward roadway at external distractions.” 4) Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authority determined that the risk is too high. “It is difficult to see how adding roadside billboards that have the potential, however minor, to encourage driver error could be justified.” 5) Norway: researchers surveyed more than 4,000 drivers who had been involved in a recent collision to identify the causes of their crashes. They found billboards to be the highest risk factor.

  9. 3. Impact on other properties Intrusive—glare, brightness, trespass, quality of life Property values—Philadelphia study found that homes within 500 feet of a billboard are worth $30,826 less on average at the time of sale than those properties further away from billboards. “Beyond Aesthetics: How Billboards Affect Economic Prosperity,” by urban planner Jonathan Snyder Interfere with future quality development? Could saddle next owner with buy-out issues, increase development costs

  10. 4. Permanence How long will they be there? What if government needs the land for a road project? Condemnation costs • Solutions: Consider Sunset provision and conditional permits

  11. 5. Legal issues • May we do a trade-out deal with one company? • Litigation potential is high and costly: From March 2013 reports, Los Angeles, CA. “Clear Channel, an outdoor advertising company fighting to preserve dozens of digital billboards across Los Angeles, warned this week that it would seek "substantially" more than $100 million from City Hall if it is ordered to remove any electronic signs targeted in a recent court ruling.” • Purchase or condemnation costs—need conditional permitting system---safety, brightness, terminate for government projects, sunset date • For federal highways, each billboard must have TxDOT permit also. • Federal highways---Scenic America v. FHWA/DOT

  12. Considerations if you allow First, articulate public policy goal; then create policy to support that goal. If you move forward, here is a suggested to-do list: • Accurate inventory • Value the inventory • Determine if trades make sense • Create certainty---signs to remove; signs to convert • Draft a clear, enforceable conditional permitting system • Draft a clear, enforceable sunset provision for each permit • Expect lawsuits

  13. Questions? • More Info: scenic.org • Contacts: • Margaret Lloyd, margaretlloyd@sbcglobal.net • VP, Scenic Texas Board of Directors • Vice Chair, Scenic America Board of Directors • Anne Culver, anne@scenichouston.org • EVP, Scenic Texas Board of Directors • President, Scenic Houston

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