ANAHEIM : Council Revisits Ban on Freeway Billboards Tonight

The new City Council will be confronted with an old controversy tonight when an advertising company renews its attempt to place 10 freeway billboards throughout the city.

Regency Outdoor Advertising Inc. has been trying for a decade to persuade city officials to overturn a 25-year city ban on freeway billboards.

They lobbied unsuccessfully to overturn the ban in 1985, in 1988 and twice in 1992.

The Los Angeles company proposes to tear down 13 smaller billboards on arterial roadways in exchange for permission to erect 10 freeway signs.

When the idea was brought before the old council for consideration in August, members could not summon the votes to either reject or approve the proposal.

Instead, they voted to revisit the item tonight, with the new council seated.

Council members Lou Lopez and Bob Zemel were sworn in last week, joining Mayor Tom Daly and Councilman Frank Feldhaus on the panel.

A fifth member is still to be appointed or elected.

Councilman Irv Pickler, who had been the staunchest proponent for lifting the ban, completed his term on the council last month.

Daly has been firmly against lifting the ban. In August, he referred to the billboard proposal as “Dracula” and said: “I wish I could just drive a stake through its heart . . . so it would go away.”

Daly said this week that he plans to again make a motion to reject the plan.

The company proposes to put four billboards at the junction of the Orange and Riverside freeways.

The signs would be up to 60 feet above the road and 950 square feet. They would also be at least 500 feet apart.

Opponents, which include several members of the business community, have complained that the billboards would add clutter to the city and diminish its appearance.