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Billboard proposal
stalls
Would allow illuminated signs to change every six seconds
Feb. 11, 2008 -- A proposal that would allow every billboard in the city to be converted to illuminated, flashing signs that change every six seconds stalled in the Common Council last week after city officials expressed concerns over traffic safety impacts and the enforceability of some of the proposal's provisions.
The issue was referred back to the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee for further consideration.
"This would be the most encompassing piece of legislation in terms of cart blanche for the billboard industry in the United States -- bar none -- with little or no regulation at all," Ald. Michael Murphy said.
Aldermen may believe that they simply could repeal the ordinance if the changing billboards cause problems, but that might not be so easy, he said.
"Be concerned that these are property rights -- once granted, very difficult to remove," Murphy said.
The billboard industry has been pushing for more than a year to be allowed to convert billboards to frequently-changing signs, which would substantially increase profits for the companies. For previous coverge, click here and here.
Department of Public Works officials, concerned that the signs could distract drivers, has recommended the signs be allowed to change no more than once every 30 seconds.
Ald. Robert Bauman said Mayor Tom Barrett's administration is talking about allowing the signs to change every eight seconds.
"What logic that has and how they arrived at that is anybody's guess," he said.
If the council eventually decides to allow the signs to change more frequently than every 30 seconds, Public Works Commissioner Jeff Mantes and City Engineer Jeff Polenske wrote in a letter, several new provisions should be added to the zoning code, including:
- limitations on sign density to preclude a concentration of signs at any given location;
- strict limitations and regulation of light intensity/brightness used in the signs;
- prohibition of animated, scrolling, flashing or intermittent sign messages;
- a requirement that the change between one message and the next take one second or less.
"These conditions would serve to reduce the degree of distraction which may be produced by shorter message duration," they said.
Marty Collins, commissioner of Neighborhood Services, said in a letter that it would be difficult for his department to enforce the proposed ordinance's brightness limitations.
Collins said he would recommend that the changeable signs be preset to a brightness level that did not exceed the the proposed limits and that the preset levels be "protected from end user manipulation by password-protected software or other methods approved by the local code official."
Sign manufacturers, though, were unwilling to meet those conditions, he said.
SHNA opposes billboard measure
Feb. 11, 2008 -- The Story Hill Neighborhood Association board has voted to oppose the proposal to allow electronic billboard messages to change every six seconds.
Story Hill, on Milwaukee's west side, is adjacent to I-94, where such billboards are likely to be located.
"We feel that allowing the advertisement industry to install LED billboards around the City of MIlwaukee that will change electronic messages every six seconds is a safety issue, where drivers will become distracted to the point of causing accidents, sometimes at a high rate of speed on our area freeways," SHNA President Sandra Rusch Walton wrote to Ald. Michael Murphy, who represents the Story Hill area.
"The LED board also will add exponentially to the light pollution we already endure in the Story Hill neighborhood, and that all neighborhooods experience that have billboards or are immediately adjacent to them."
Proposed
billboard changes could affect look of city
Electronic boards could change every six seconds
Jan. 1, 2008 -- Allowing electronic billboards to change advertisements every six seconds would dramatically change the city's looks, according to Ald. Michael Murphy.
The LED billboards also could distract drivers who should be paying attention to the road, he said.
City ordinance now prohibits billboards from changing messages more than once every 30 seconds. Aldermen Mike D'Amato and Jim Bohl, backed by the billboared industry, introduced an ordinance that would allow billboards to change ads every six seconds.
This is the second time the industry has pushed for the six-second rule. Last time, the council reduced the minimum message time from one minute to 30 seconds.
While the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Develoment Committee first recommended amending the proposed ordinance and then recommended placing the matter on file, Murphy said he expected it to be pulled from committee when the full council meets on Tuesday.
About that billboard on Hawley Rd. and Wisconsin Ave.....Ald.
Murphy discusses the issue with Lamar Advertising exec Kurt Weis.
The six-second proposal, he said last week, "will have a dramatic impact on the appearance of the City of MIlwaukee."
Murphy, who represents the Story Hill area on the Common Council, said people living along I-94 already had concerns about bright billboard lights shining in their homes.
"I think the light impacts on residents along the freeway will be significant and will be a very substational distraction to them," he said.
Murphy said the only experience the city had with a a billboard changing every six seconds was an eight-month pilot with a billboard on the corner of N. Oakland and E. North Avenues.
"This legislation is probably the most dramatic change in terms of the physical appearance of the City of MIlwaukee that I've seen in the last 10 years, outside perhaps of the change in the zoning code," Murphy said. "People don't understand the impact this will have."
The Federal Highway Administration is beginning to study safety issues related to frequently-changing billboards, he said. He said it would be "irresponsible" for the city to adopt a six-second rule before that study is done.
The proposed ordinance would affect thousands of billboards in the city, he said.
Representatives of the billboard industry said that not all billboards would become changeable LED models because of the expense involved. While the electronic boards are becoming more popular, no one knows yet the ultimate demand for them, the representatives said.
The amendments endorsed
by the committee last week include the 30-second limit. They also would
limit the brightness of the signs, require them to be set back 50 feet
from the roadway, and prohibit the use of stop-light red.
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