The Little Rock Board of Directors will consider a proposal Tuesday to reduce the number of billboards allowed in the city by as many as 13 in exchange for allowing up to four signs to be changed to a digital format.
The request is from Lamar Advertising Co., which owns 166 billboards in Little Rock.
The city capped the number of billboards allowed at 198 in the 1990s. Of the permits allowed, 180 are in active use.
Lamar Advertising has agreed that in exchange for being able to convert its billboard behind the Shell gas station at the southwest corner of Kanis and Shackleford roads to electronic, it will permanently remove 10 other billboards in the city.
And if the city board allows it to convert up to three of its four billboards along Interstate 630 to digital, the company will permanently remove up to three located on Arkansas 10/Cantrell Road.
Taking those 13 billboards out of service would reduce the city's cap to 185.
The company has to get permission for the changes because the city designated Kanis Road and I-630 as "scenic corridors," which have special regulations that bar existing billboards from being altered.
If the proposal is accepted at Tuesday's 6 p.m. board meeting at City Hall, Lamar Advertising would still have to gain approval from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department before changing signs along I-630. That is because the interstate is in the state agency's jurisdiction.
"We have not been contacted by them, but we would have to approve any changes to existing billboards along 630," said Danny Straessle, the Highway Department's spokesman. "We'd make sure they meet all the requirements. Also, the distance required between electronic billboards is greater than static billboards, so we'd have to go out and measure that."
The proposed city ordinance to make the billboard changes was originally included in a set of items to be collectively considered and voted on by the board Tuesday. But At-large City Director Joan Adcock asked that the billboard item be voted on separately.
That request is often made when an item is contentious, if a director expects to vote differently on one item than on the grouped ones, or if a director anticipates that residents will speak about an item at the board meeting. However, the request doesn't necessarily indicate any of those reasons.
During the board's agenda-setting meeting last Tuesday, Adcock expressed an interest in reducing the cap and displeasure about the number of billboards in the city. She also said she doesn't like that many of the signs are being moved to locations in southwest Little Rock.
Dana Carney, the city's zoning and subdivision manager, said a company can take down one of its signs, move it to another location and still be in compliance with the city's cap.
"There has been an increase in billboard sites on Interstate 30 and South University [Avenue], all of which has been driven by the fact there is now a huge economic generator in that area of town," Carney said. "There's the Bass Pro Shop and the outlet mall over there, and there's a desire by those businesses to have reach on the interstate. The billboard companies are responding to that by placing one where they can under code."
Ward 2 City Director Ken Richardson said he's concerned about the possible digital conversions.
"Sometimes electronic billboards can be a public safety hazard [when they are] brightly lit during the day and at night not dimmed at all," he said.
He pointed to a set of standards from the International Sign Association that he thinks the city should make advertising companies follow.
In addition to Lamar Advertising's 166 billboards in Little Rock, ACE Signs has nine, Cuerden Sign Co. has three, Statewide Outdoor Advertising LLC has one, and Impact Outdoor Advertising has one.
"Since 1983, the city has initiated efforts to prohibit the proliferation of billboards," Carney said. "The current cap was established in 1992. The policy has been forwarded through the initiation of the cap as well as the establishment of the various scenic corridors. A reduction in the cap would seem to further the policy of reducing the proliferation of billboards."
Metro on 04/04/2016