City of Mobile votes new rules on digital billboards

The Mobile City Council has voted to restrict digital billboards, and they rejected an attempt by billboard interests to put units closer to residential areas.

As originally passed by the Planning Commission, the law would let the back of a digital unit be 250 feet from a residential area. I've been told by someone who attended the Council meeting that the council changed that provision to require the entire billboard to be 500 feet away. This is basically reverting to the original 1994 billboard ordinance.

The new regulations generally require a nonconforming billboard to be removed for each digital unit installed, and also restrict how bright they can be.

You can get an overview of the changes and the vote at the Mobile Press Register.

(The OASIS proposal, for supply caches and ground-level digital ads, was not up for consideration at the council meeting. I will try to have more details on this as it develops.)

Digital Billboard loses, we hope not for the last time

The Jefferson County Board of Zoning Adjustments voted (gif file, zoom to read) yesterday unanimously to not let Lamar Advertising put up a giant electronic billboard near Brookwood Hospital. There's a regular billboard right now - on the east side of U.S. 31 going up the hill from Lakeshore to Vestavia Hills. It is hard to imagine a worse place for a Jumbotron TV screen, and the BZA agreed.

I unfortunately missed the first few minutes of Lamar's presentation to the Board, but I did catch the part where Tom Traylor said that a digital billboard there was not only a good idea but "essential" to the community. As they always do, they talked about Amber Alerts, and putting up pictures of wanted criminals. (I have some answers to that - including how the heck you're supposed to remember all that information if you're paying attention to the road - which I will expand on in a future post.)

This particular case brings up the bigger issue of billboard companies finding every possible pocket of unincorporated land and putting up billboards, usually within a city that doesn't allow them. They just put up a digital billboard on Highway 150 in Hoover, on land that's still in the county. I would not be surprised if they've approached the owners of land down the road that's for sale, about doing the same thing. (As of this week, there were no permit requests, but I will keep an eye out.)

The county has a cap on the number of billboards, but all that means is that they can take a billboard down somewhere (maybe on U.S. 78 where it is bypassed by Corridor X) and put one up in a new location. It's a huge loophole that is letting Lamar basically thumb its nose at cities like Hoover and Vestavia that don't want billboards.

The only real solution is for the county to change their sign law to not allow new billboards, and to have an immediate moratorium on digital boards. Otherwise, citizens will continue to get their right to peaceful enjoyment of their property trampled on.

We tried a couple of years ago to get the County Commission to consider this, but came up against a brick wall. It will take a lot more public pressure to get them to take action. If you want to stop the billboard companies from taking over your city, join us! We can do it with your help.

Bright Birmingham Billboards - it won't be pretty!

The new LED Billboard is now up on Highland Ave. in Birmingham, and I suspect it's going to catch a lot of people by surprise once it is turned on. It is actually facing north, so if you're going South on the Red Mountain Expressway, it will glare at you as you come out from under the Highland Ave. overpass.

Not only that, but if you shop, eat out, work, worship or live here, this Jumbotron TV screen will be staring you in the face 24/7.

The new LED Board will be brightly visible from all these places.

This is a view from the Highland Ave. Western - imagine it at night with a bright screen.



These monstrosities can be stopped, but it takes a city council that can look beyond petty politics to what is best for the people of the city. Unfortunately, Birmingham's city council would not even implement a temporary moratorium on digital boards so that they could look at these types of signs. We also informed the Alabama Department of Transportation, because two more electronic boards are going up in Malfunction Junction (where it's so dangerous that the speed limit was cut to 50 mph). We never received a response.

The Federal Highway Administration is doing an unbiased study on electronic boards and their effects on driver safety. There is no credible evidence at present as to the safety of these signs,and it seems irresponsible to allow them to go up until we know they're safe.

On behalf of Scenic Alabama, we are sorry we were not able to stop these things in Birmingham. But you can stop any more from going up, by contacting your elected officials and tell them your city needs to ban electronic billboards - NOW.

Enjoy it while you can

Over the weekend, the big billboard on Red Mountain Expressway, which has blighted the view as you come into Birmingham for years, came down. Here's what it looks like now - I see a much nicer view than...







...this (which is from the other direction, but you get the picture). Unfortunately, it's very temporary. Before long, there will be a huge Jumbotron TV screen like...






...this to greet you - just the thing to welcome people into the historic Highland Avenue district. The Birmingham City Council refused to adopt a moratorium on these monstrosities, the state Department of Transportation doesn't seem to care, so you the residents and drivers of Birmingham will feel the pain.





There is another one going up on I-65 North just before the 3rd Avenue North off-ramp, and one on 59-20 coming into downtown at Carraway Blvd. - the heart of "Malfunction Junction." This is an area so dangerous that the governor reduced the speed limit to 50 to try and avoid wrecks. Yet the city and the state don't think that a giant television screen will be a problem. Go figure.

What can you do? Let the city and state know what you think. If you'd like, send Scenic Alabama your comments and we will forward them. Ask the mayor and Council of Birmingham and the governor to not allow any more to go up.

We're working on some legislation and possibly court action to stop these from infesting any more of our roads. If you want to help, you can sign up for our email action alerts, you can make calls and write letters on your own, and you can donate to Scenic Alabama so we can keep up the fight (it's tax deductible and there's a donation button on the website).

Remember - they're your roads, and you deserve a safe and scenic drive!

Birmingham Moratorium

The Birmingham City Council will vote on a moratorium on all electronic signs, on Tuesday April 24. As you can see from my previous posts, digital signs (especially the huge Jumbotron billboards) can be serious driver distractions, as well as making a neighborhood look like Times Square or the Vegas Strip.

A lot of other cities have put moratoriums on digital boards until they can decide if they want these kinds of signs, and what restrictions to put on them. Atlanta and Tuscaloosa have moratoriums. The governor of Rhode Island has stopped all digital billboard permits until they can decide if they want any more.

The main issue is - who do we want making the decisions about giant TV screens looming above our highways? Do we want the sign companies deciding (which is what in effect is happening now) or do we want our elected officials (and that means we, the citizens) to decide? The first step is to not allow any more to go up while the people's elected representatives consider the situation.

Birmingham residents can attend the Council meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m. at Birmingham City Hall on Tuesday. If you can't go, please email me or post a comment here, and I'll make sure the Council gets it.

Jumbotron TV Screens are not "signs"

"Digital billboards" are popping up all over and they are a real problem. Most everyone has probably seen one - they're like giant TV screens, the kinds you have in sports arenas. They are a real driving hazard, and certainly a lot more distracting that regular billboards which are bad enough.

It really irks me that the billboard companies are putting these things up without any kind of public safety study. It really doesn't take a study to know that it's hazardous to come around a curve on a dark night and have a giant glaring TV screen in your face (see my Vestavia Hills post), or go down a long straight road on a rainy night with a Jumbotron filling your entire field of vision (West Oxmoor Road in Homewood). But shouldn't they have to prove their product is safe before they just casually start plopping them in everywhere?

In December, Atlanta's mayor put in a moratorium on digital boards. Tuscaloosa has done the same thing. According to this news article, the federal highway administration has just now commissioned a study on video boards. We need to ask our city councils and county commissions to do the same thing. As drivers and citizens, we deserve to know that giant video boards are safe. It should not be up to the billboard company to decide.