Anaheim : Council to Reconsider Freeway Billboard Ban
The City Council today will reconsider lifting a nearly 20-year-old ban on freeway billboards in the city as a method to raise money.
A new sign ordinance is being proposed by Regency Outdoor Advertising Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that proposed a similar ordinance just two years ago that was rejected by the council.
This time, the city is facing a $8-million budget shortfall. Several council members have indicated that they might accept a new law if ad companies were required to pay higher business license fees.
Billboard companies now pay one $100 fee, no matter how many signs they own. Under the proposed ordinance, companies would pay a fee of $2 per square foot of sign space.
Under guidelines of the ordinance, the city could eventually reduce the number of billboards crowding intersections.
But in exchange, a limited number of billboards would be permitted on freeways. The city’s current sign law, adopted nearly 20 years ago, bars new billboards beside freeways.
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