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Some see digital billboards as valued community service and a profitable ad medium. Others only see ugly eyesores
By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Dec 01, 2008
With a moratorium on new billboards soon ending, Akron leaders are considering stricter rules for the mega signs.
That's not pleasing for either billboard companies or beautification proponents. The companies think the proposed regulations would be too stringent, while sign opponents think they wouldn't go far enough.
People from both sides will testify at a City Council hearing Dec. 8 on regulations that the city planning commission recently approved.
The recurring issue is a sign of the times, with communities across the country trying to balance the economic boon that billboards provide with how many people see them as an eyesore. The topic is becoming even hotter as billboard companies push for bigger, brighter and more modern signs, including those that are digital.
Akron's proposed rules would:
• Decrease the maximum height for new billboards from 50 to 35 feet.
• Make any new billboards a ''conditional use,'' which means both the planning commission and council would hold public hearings before deciding whether to approve them.
• Allow billboard companies to improve or modernize existing signs. The updated billboards could not be any larger but could be converted to digital.
Akron's 90-day moratorium on new billboards — enacted after a public outcry because of an Indiana company getting approval to put up 13 new billboards in the city — expires
Jan. 9. City planning officials are hoping council will adopt the new regulations before then.
''We have to balance between the two — the restricting of billboards with realizing they also generate economic activity for businesses,'' said Pat Fitzgibbons, Akron's interim zoning manager.
Akron has about 175 billboard structures — many double sided — for a total of about 300 billboard ''faces.'' City planners say there are not many spots left where billboards would be permitted under existing regulations.
Clear Channel Communications Inc., which owns most of Akron's billboards, opposes lowering the maximum height and making new billboards a conditional use.
''Because there already are strong regulations in place for billboards, we don't think there's a need to add to the code that billboards become a conditional use,'' said David Yale, the company's vice president of public affairs.
Yale said the company does favor the provision that would allow it to update billboards.
''It's an important point that there is no other business or use out there where, if that business wanted to modernize or improve their property, they would not be allowed to do that,'' he said.
Digital plans unknown
Yale said he's unsure how many billboards the company would update or which signs would be converted to digital.
''We have to have a good enough location to warrant that,'' he said, noting that the cost of a digital billboard is about $500,000.
Yale pointed to the positive service that digital billboards provide, with the ability to deliver instant and urgent messages, such as Amber alerts and other law-enforcement bulletins.
Local billboard opponents, however, see nothing good about digital billboards.
Christine Freitag, an Akron Garden Club member and vocal billboard critic, sent a letter to council members last week asking them to continue the moratorium on new billboards. She also argued that updating billboards be made a conditional use, thus subject to public hearings.
''We are urging each council member to drive through his or her ward and imagine what it would be like to have all existing billboards updated to digital,'' she wrote.
Freitag predicted that council members will hear many complaints if more digital billboards, which require a heavier structure, start popping up around the city.
''People have gotten used to what they see,'' she said. ''They do not want bigger and better — and certainly not digital.''
Los Angeles is among the cities that recently have seen a public backlash because of a proliferation of digital billboards. City officials aren't even sure how many billboards there are — estimates put the number around 10,000 — or which ones are legal.
Kevin Fry, president of Scenic America, a national billboard opponent, said that what has happened in Los Angeles should serve as ''a cautionary tale for all communities.''
Fry said digital billboards aren't aesthetically pleasing and could pose a risk for drivers distracted by flashing signs. He said two major studies are in progress to examine safety concerns.
He said requiring that new billboards be a conditional use in Akron would be a positive step and he encouraged the public to attend hearings about billboards.
''We're losing control of our streets and highways to outdoor advertising,'' Fry said. ''People need to take a stand — one way or another.''
Fry said the city should be leery of allowing billboard companies to update signs without requiring public comment. He said replacement signs should be treated the same as new signs, especially if they could be changed into digital.
''They should understand: If they allow the companies to modernize signs, Akron will never be the same,'' he said.
Other towns vary
Other local communities have adopted tighter restrictions on billboards. Cuyahoga Falls, for example, which grappled with its own hubbub over digital billboards two years ago, now has regulations that essentially prohibit new billboards. The maximum size of any new sign in the city is 100 square feet.Billboards typically are at least 300 square feet.
''The billboards that are there can continue, but the code doesn't allow for additional billboards to be put in the city because of the size limitation,'' said Fred Guerra, planning director in Cuyahoga Falls.
Akron planning officials examined the sign regulations in 30 communities when developing the city's proposed regulations.
Mike Antenucci, the city planner who did that research, said ''no two ordinances are alike when it comes to signage.'' He said it comes down to ''what will work best for the city.''
If the new regulations are adopted, Akron would be in the middle, between the most stringent and liberal sign rules, he said.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
With a moratorium on new billboards soon ending, Akron leaders are considering stricter rules for the mega signs.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 06:59 AM, 12/01/2008
Was this before or after Marco got his donation?.... Opps.
Barberton, OH
Posted 08:09 AM, 12/01/2008
Please please please get rid of the hideous billboards. They really are an eyesore. The digital ones are particularly ugly. Remind me of the movie Blade Runner.
Akron, OH
Posted 08:10 AM, 12/01/2008
Hmmm, I don't consider a handful of people complainin' about the signs, as a public outcry. More like crybabies in public.
Akron, Oh
Posted 08:21 AM, 12/01/2008
I used to drive south from Highland Heights on I271 at night and would be blinded by the digital board in the valley. The only good digital boards would be time and temperature, with news updates.
akron, oh
Posted 08:37 AM, 12/01/2008
Just give Plusquellic more money and they could hang a bill board on City Hall. Read sundays PD for Plusquellic's Mafia connection.
My Heart Is In K-Town, .
Posted 08:45 AM, 12/01/2008
If you don't live in Akron, go find something else to do. And if you do, the signs need to go.
Posted 09:14 AM, 12/01/2008
Council considers strict new outdoor sign rules.
Good idea! Posting faces of people wanted by the law for various reasons, fails to promote safety
in the city of Akron. Besides people needs to focus on their driving.
Akron, OH
Posted 10:01 AM, 12/01/2008
I hate to tell a couple of you whiners that what ever Council does it will not involve getting rid of boards.
Tepplin, DC
Posted 10:02 AM, 12/01/2008
Beta, would you like a dozen of these signs staring you in the face every time you step outside of your home? I think this is the concern that more than a "handful" of Akronites have.
There are probably a few appropriate places in town for these signs, like dedicated commercial districts such as Chapel Hill or Montrose where retail signage and other such gaudy things are already permitted to run into excess. I'm not saying that this is a good thing, but you will probably find fewer people complaining about digital boards going up around Chapel Hill Mall than you would in a neighborhood district.
"Downtown" Ellet (i.e. Canton Road) and Highland Square are also commercial districts. However, unlike Chapel Hill, they rest at the heart of neighborhoods, and as such are places that people care about and should expect to be fairly welcoming and attractive. This is where regulation steps in and makes this possible. People do have the right to expect and demand that their neighborhoods remain attractive places to live.
Posted 10:13 AM, 12/01/2008
1) The sighs should have backward copy so you can read them in you rearview mirror on the way out of town.
2) Some French company might Buy the sign rights so we can establish a college Scolarship fund
3)We do not need any progressive junk in Akron
4)With no scholarship funds..the Kids will not be able to read them any way.
5) based on population projections....only City Council will live in Akron to read the signs
ARE THERE ARE ANY REAL PROJETS TO WORK ON?
Akron, OH
Posted 11:29 AM, 12/01/2008
Legislation conveniently considered after election season is over. The recently installed eyesores were covered with ads for our favorite local looters.
And now the legislation. And now no competition for the companies behind the fresh crop of gigantic eyesores Ignorance described.
Some sweet kickbacks on the way from Clear Channel & CBS? Somebody call Carl Monday.
akron, oh
Posted 12:11 PM, 12/01/2008
There is much more to worry about in Highland Square and Ellet than a few billboards. But you will never see the complainers actually get off their duffs and show up to help clean the square up.
Posted 12:28 PM, 12/01/2008
I really never notice many of these signs because I don't care to look. i can't believe so many people are actually getting uptight about a few signs. Who really cares? If you worried about the asthetics of the city why didn;t they do something about all the smoke from the tire factories back in the day. Oh, they did and then they all moved out of here. The best sign on the highway was the one where the Prosecutor was promoting the sex line. And we voted her back in.
