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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Ind. Law - Plain old-fashioned billboards and digital billboards

Plain old-fashioned billboards. This ILB entry from January 19. 2008, headed "Billboards will be history" - agreement filed Friday in Superior Court", began:

See this ILB entry from May 3, 2006 on the denial of the petition for rehearing in Metropolitan Development Commission of Marion Co. v. Pinnacle Media, LLC for background. Here is a long list of all ILB entries referencing Pinnacle Media.
Friday, May 16th the Indianapolis Star ran this story by Kevin O'Neal and John Strauss headed "Billboards cut down to size: 2 years after court ruling, 1st of 10 interstate signs labeled 'litter on a stick' coming down," that began:
More than two years after the state's highest court said a county ordinance was correct in banning advertising billboards along interstate highways, the first of the 10 signs in Indianapolis is close to being removed.

First to go, according to the mayor's office, will be a sign in the 1300 block of Lewis Street, next to the ramp from the "spaghetti bowl" to eastbound I-70. Work to remove it began Thursday.

The other billboards will be removed within the next few days, according to Jessica Higdon, deputy press secretary for Mayor Greg Ballard.

The signs went blank in late November after a court ordered their removal.

The billboards were first ordered removed in December 2005, when the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that a county ordinance was passed in time, during the administration of then-Mayor Bart Peterson, to prevent Pinnacle Media from erecting the signs. The ordinance was passed in 2003, as the advertising company was planning to install the billboards.

Pinnacle has gone out of business, and an attorney for the company said that happened because the company lost the revenue the signs would have generated."

Digital billboards. Digital billboards are something else entirely. Here is an Aug. 2, 2007 ILB entry about Kentucky and Indiana. Here is another entry, from Dec. 26, 2007.

Jeff Swiatek of the Indianapolis Star wrote May 8th:

Billboard giant Lamar Advertising Co. proposes to install the first two electronic digital billboards in Indianapolis, but its request for a needed zoning variance faces stiff opposition.

An anti-billboard group promises to fight the zoning filing, and the city planning staff recommends denial, in part because of concerns the billboard's ever-changing ads would distract drivers.
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Lamar, which is based in Baton Rouge, La., and maintains 620 advertising signs in the Indianapolis area, wants to convert two of its most prominently located billboards into digital displays. They are on 82nd Street in front of the Fashion Mall, Keystone at the Crossing, and along I-465 near the East 46th Street overpass.

The digital signs would be the same size as regular roadside billboards -- 14 by 48 feet -- but they cost more than $400,000 to build and use LED lighting to create static advertising displays or messages that can change every 10 seconds.

Indianapolis' sign ordinance currently prohibits digital billboards. To try to win support from local zoning boards, Lamar is playing up the billboards' public service value.

Because they're remotely controlled by computer and can hold dozens of displays, the digital boards can easily be used to post public service ads and make emergency announcements, such as Amber Alerts for missing children or weather warnings, said Chris E. Iverson, Lamar's general manager in Indianapolis.

Carrying public-service ads and flashing warnings to the public on the digital signs "is part of our business model," Iverson said. "That's one of the things we're discussing" with the city, he said.

The digital billboards' ability to double as public bulletin boards doesn't make them more endearing to Tom Williams, president of Citizens Against Billboard Blight in Indianapolis. "It's a come-on. There is no guarantee they are going to do it," he said. "That's just a ploy to say, 'We're doing something good for you.' "

Lamar's request comes after the Indiana General Assembly last year approved digital billboards along state roads and interstates.

Since then, five digital signs have been built in counties surrounding Indianapolis, said Iverson. Two are along I-65 in Johnson County, and the others are on Ind. 67 in Mooresville, along I-70 in Hendricks County and on I-69 in Hamilton County.

Lamar operates the new digital billboard in Hamilton County and one of the two in Johnson County. During the Indiana primary election Tuesday, Lamar flashed updates on election returns on its digital billboards across the state, Iverson said.

Clear Channel Outdoor of Phoenix, which owns the new digital billboard in Hendricks County, has an agreement with the FBI to carry its "most wanted" listings on its digital boards around the country. Since last fall when the FBI lists began running on Clear Channel boards, they have generated tips leading to arrests of six suspects, said Clear Channel spokesman Tony Allwin.

Williams said his group will fight Lamar's requests on the grounds digital billboards are more distracting to drivers and are environmentally unfriendly because they consume more electricity than regular boards and emit a loud hum from fans.

"If you're on a boat or kayak on White River, you'll be able to hear it," he said of the proposed digital board at 82nd Street and White River.

The digital board would replace a Lamar "tri-vision" billboard that uses mechanically operated prisms to display three messages in succession.

City zoning staff recommends the zoning board deny Lamar's request for a digital board on 82nd Street in part because it's a heavily trafficked road where "any distraction, like trying to read a difficult-to-read message (or) . . . waiting for the next message would increase the likelihood of rear-end collisions."

Billboard companies cite several academic and state transportation department studies that conclude digital billboards don't cause increased traffic accidents. Iverson said the billboards also emit only "negligible" noise from their fans.

On May 9th, the Star reported that: "The Indianapolis zoning board has postponed until June 12 a vote on a variance request by Lamar Advertising to build an electronic digital billboard at East 82nd Street and White River.."

See stories from Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 18, 2008 12:03 PM
Posted to Indiana Law