More Revenues a Factor : Anaheim Moves to End Freeway Billboard Ban

Anaheim Tuesday took a major step toward ending its 20-year ban on freeway billboards.

The City Council, on a 3-2 vote, directed its attorney to draft a new billboard ordinance that would include a controversial provision to allow billboards on some freeways in the city.

If approved, the new ordinance would place much tighter controls over the numbers and locations of future billboards in the city and would provide a significant increase in revenues from advertising firms.

It would also be an important victory for Regency Outdoor Advertising Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that first proposed changing the city’s 20-year-old billboard ordinance to lift the ban on new freeway billboard construction.

The billboard industry has won a few concessions from cities in the county to loosen restrictions on billboard construction in recent years, but the trend has been to tighten controls on freeway billboards, especially in Orange County.

The Anaheim City Council voted down requests to change the city’s ordinance three times in the last three years, citing concerns over sign pollution and public opposition.

But this time, several council members indicated that they would support lifting the ban on freeway-billboard construction if advertising companies were required to pay higher business license fees. Several council members also said that allowing some freeway billboards would be a fair exchange for limiting the numbers of inner city billboards.

“This ordinance is more than 20 years old and it’s time we did something to change it,” Councilman Fred Hunter said. “As a city, we are losing too much in revenues that could help pay for more fire and police personnel, for example. If we have to build more freeway-oriented billboards so we can eliminate them in the inner city, then I am willing to take the flap.”

But Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood, who has opposed new freeway-billboard construction and contended that the “public is absolutely against more freeway billboards,” countered that the city could raise fees without promising to allow new freeway billboards.

However, Mayor Ben Bay and Councilmen Hunter and William D. Ehrle voted to include the freeway provision. Councilman Irv Pickler sided with Kaywood in opposing it.

Billboard companies now pay only a $100 license fee no matter how many signs they own. According to a city staff report, revenues from fees total about $600 per year. Under provisions included in the draft ordinance, companies would pay fees based on the size of the billboard: $1.50 per square foot for signs up to 72 square feet; $2 per square foot for 73 to 300 square feet; $2.50 per square foot for signs over 300 square feet, and $8.34 per square foot for any freeway billboard.

Estimated revenues under the proposed fee structure would total an additional $127,512.

Other provisions in the draft ordinance include:

- Requiring a conditional use permit for all proposed billboards.

- Limiting the number of billboards at intersections to four.

- A long-term reduction in the overall number of billboards in the city.

- Limiting the number of freeway signs a company can build in any year.

A recent survey conducted by the city of billboard laws in Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana and Buena Park found that none permit the construction of new freeway billboards and only Santa Ana permits billboards on surface streets.

There are now 134 surface-street billboards and six freeway billboards in Anaheim.