Environmentalists fight proposal to void local curbs on outdoor ads.
RALEIGH Supporters call it a jobs bill. Critics say it would destroy trees, gut ordinances in Charlotte and elsewhere and make North Carolina “the flashing billboard state.”
A measure, expected to be heard today by a House committee, would allow outdoor advertisers to replace existing billboards with digital ones and expand the area that could be cleared of trees and vegetation.
“It makes billboard companies more powerful than local governments,” said Molly Diggins, state director of the Sierra Club.
The bill that has sparked protests in the Triangle and other areas would affect interstate highways and federally assisted roads such as U.S. 64 and 70 in Wake County and U.S. 74, N.C. 49 and 521 in Mecklenburg.
It would allow advertisers to convert billboards to digital ones that change their message every eight seconds and nearly double the space around them that could be cleared for a better view of the message. It would allow up to seven electronic billboards per mile.
The sponsor, Republican Sen. Harry Brown of Onslow County, said it would restore fairness to an industry often penalized by local ordinances.
And lobbyist Tony Adams of the N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association said it would create jobs by helping businesses get their message out.
“With the economy in such bad shape right now not only in North Carolina but across the country, advertisers are looking to get words out about their products,” he said. “It’s a puzzle why a local government trying to entice people to come in for jobs (would) hamstrung an industry. … This fosters jobs.”
Critics say the measure would trump local ordinances.
“It’s trying to circumvent what local officials have already vetted, discussed and voted unanimously to oppose,” said John Schelp, a neighborhood leader in Durham, which last year upheld its ban on digital billboards. “The billboard industry (is) trying to change the rules another way.”
The Raleigh City Council authorized a resolution last week opposing the bill.
“It’s just bad legislation,” said City Attorney Tom McCormick. “You don’t need to have these things all over the place. They’re traffic hazards that distract motorists. And they’re unattractive to your city.”
Republican Edwin Peacock of the Charlotte City Council said, “The draft of this bill pits billboards versus trees.
“When citizens have a choice,” he added, “they will always pick trees.”
In addition to nullifying any bans on digital billboards, the bill would overturn other restrictions. In Charlotte, for example, it would:
Expand the roadways where digital billboards are allowed.
Reduce from 2,000 to 1,500 feet the space between electronic billboards and from 1,000 feet to 100 feet the distance between digital signs and so-called “static” billboards.
Override a regulation that requires the city arborist to approve any tree-cutting in a public right-of-way that would make billboards more visible. The city’s tree ordinance would no longer be enforced around billboards on the designated roadways.
“It would dramatically increase cutting,” said Ben Hitchings, past legislative chair of the N.C. chapter of the American Planning Association. “Communities ought to be able to make their own decisions about how they look … This bill would override those kind of choices.”
Digital signs generate more revenue for outdoor advertisers because they accommodate multiple advertisers with changing messages.
The outdoor advertising association is not a major campaign contributor. But Bob Hall, director of the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, said executives with five major billboard companies have given over $150,000 to North Carolina politicians and political committees in the past five years.
Among the bill’s opponents is the N.C. League of Municipalities. Kelli Kukura, the league’s director of government affairs, said the group is among those trying to work with the industry on a compromise.
“We appreciate the billboard industry’s willingness to work out something much more reasonable than they’ve proposed,” she said. “Our citizens are very upset and don’t want North Carolina to become the flashing billboard state.” Craig Jarvis and Matt Garfield of the (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed.
By Jim Morrill
jmorrill@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Mar. 23, 2011
