Revisions to a state law passed last year regarding tree-cutting around roadside billboards has environmental groups and the outdoor advertising industry at odds once again, and motorists traveling Interstate 26 in Henderson County can now see evidence of where the controversy exists.
Last week the state’s Rules Review Commission approved by a 5-3 vote “temporary rules” related to Senate Bill 183 that could result in a significant increase in tree-cutting along North Carolina’s highways to make billboards more visible. The rules also limit local municipalities’ control over such signage.
Jon Nance, chief engineer for DOT, said the temporary rules — which will become permanent and take effect March 1 — increase the cut zone around billboards on interstate land outside of incorporated limits from 250 feet to 380 feet; allows all trees in the cut area, even those not directly blocking the billboard, to come down; and permits trees to be cut down to the ground.
Along eastbound I-26 between Four Seasons Boulevard and Upward Road in Henderson County, flags had already been erected last week marking the potential cut zone around the billboards in that stretch.
The RRC is an executive agency created by the General Assembly and charged with reviewing and approving rules adopted by state agencies — in this case, the Department of Transportation.
State Rep. Chuck McGrady of Hendersonville, a former national president of the Sierra Club and a noted environmental advocate going back to his days in local government, said he was not pleased with the final version of Senate Bill 183.
The bill was pushed by the billboard industry, he said, after he introduced amendments to restore more control by municipalities, reduce the expanded clear-cut area around outdoor ads and allow for better DOT enforcement against illegal clear-cutting. McGrady’s amendments overwhelmingly passed the House, but most of them were not included by a Conference Committee in the final version of the bill.
“The bill that passed is ultimately going to pave the way for a lot more tree-cutting and a lot more billboards,” McGrady said, “and I’m now disappointed that the billboard industry that got about 80 percent of what it wanted in the original bill is now apparently trying to get the remaining 20 percent in the regulatory process” with the temporary rules.
McGrady called the markings placed in Henderson County “inexplicable” since they had been put up before the new rules were adopted, but Nance said his understanding is that billboard owners simply went out to identify what the new limits would look like on the roadway to help make decisions about possible needed cuts.
Nance said his department has heard concerns from environmental groups, municipalities and the public about “the potential here for a very stark difference” in roadside appearance.
Nance added, however, that under the former rules, DOT received permit requests to conduct clear-cutting for only about 3 percent of the state’s 8,000-plus billboards.
Tony Adams, executive director of the N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association, said new rules were needed after funding cuts in recent years prevented DOT from continuing to clear right-of-way areas of vegetation to ensure safety for motorists.
A bill similar to SB 183 failed in 2007 despite overwhelming initial support from both the House and Senate, according to Adams, and another attempt was made last year because of the “outcry” from advertisers and small businesses.
“They were constantly complaining about their ads being blocked by trees where you couldn’t see them very well,” Adams said, “so a bill was filed and passed in response to the thousands of advertisers throughout the state that depend on outdoor advertising to keep jobs in their community. Outdoor advertising wouldn’t exist if it were not for the thousands of businesses in the state that depend on it for their existence.”
Adams insisted the new rules will help the economy, “without destroying the environment,” and said the billboard industry is sensitive to environmental impacts. He added that environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Scenic America and Scenic North Carolina use “scare tactics” to “inflame emotions” and “alter facts.”
“The main thing they exist for is to try to destroy the outdoor advertising industry; they always have,” Adams said. “It’s as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning — anything to do with outdoor advertising, Scenic America will oppose it. They want to wipe the industry out of existence, and I don’t think the majority of North Carolinians think that is very fair.”
Ryke Longest, a Duke University attorney representing Scenic North Carolina, countered the charge about altering facts by saying he obtained documents through public records requests that show DOT itself estimated the new rules could cost the state many millions of dollars, including $15 million in vegetation assets.
McGrady said he doesn’t see a legislative fix for the new measures in the near-term, and that it remains to be seen whether anyone — perhaps a major municipality like Charlotte or Durham — will try to try to appeal them.
He added that the upcoming short legislative session in May will be about regulatory reform, and “I think some people will look at this and say, ‘This is sort of regulatory reform run amok. If this is regulatory reform, we don’t need anymore of it.'”
Count David Weintraub among them.
“Two hundred million dollars comes into Henderson County from tourism, and guess what? If (these areas) all look like wastelands, they all look like Wal-Mart lots, how inviting is that going to be for folks coming in this direction?” said Weintraub, who is executive director of the Hendersonville-based Environmental and Conservation Organization.
“We were already seeing this practice way before these bills were passed … anyone who has driven down (Interstate) 26 in the last year has seen all the stumps all around us.”
According to Weintraub, the temporary rules adopted last week take an already poorly conceived law to another level.
“This is supposed to be making billboards more visible?” he asked. “I guess I’m just kind of green under the gills, but I think the best advertisement for this community is the trees, not the billboards.”
Reach Glancy at 828-694-7860 or gary.glancy@blueridgenow.com.
By Gary Glancy
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:32 p.m.
