News

Billboard ruling on back burner

Four decades deep in a city-wide ban on erecting new billboards, a city committee voted early this week to put an ordinance that would give advertisers more leeway with existing billboards on the back burner indefinitely.

Ald. Jed Sanborn, District 1, and Adams Outdoor Advertising proposed the ordinance, dubbed “cap and release”. It would allow the corporation to erect a new billboard of one is torn down, and relocate billboards that stand in the way of construction projects.

“We were trying to be proactive and put forth a common sense ordinance that makes sense for us of course, the city and it would cater to the developer also because it allows him flexibility,” said Jason Saari, real estate manager for Adams Outdoor Advertising.

Sanborn urged the Madison Plan Commission decided to shelve the ordinance that has been in the works for two years, because there was no support from the committee to pass it, Sanborn said. “It’s basically dead,” he added.

According to Sanborn, the ordinance could come up again if billboards on development sites pose a problem with developers but city developers have not made any complaints so far.

Saari said Adams Outdoor Advertising is “OK” with the city filing the billboard issue on the shelves for now, adding,”We don’t think its over.”

“We are looking forward to a time when it is brought up again, and hopefully reach a consensus and move forward,” he said.

As the law stands currently, a fixed number of billboards are allowed in the city, none can be built and the existing signs are not allowed to move, said Ald. Eli Judge, District 8.

Adams Outdoor Advertising is reluctant to do anything with billboards that fall on development sites, Sanborn said, because tearing them down means the company would loose revenue from that advertisement forever.

Saari said ordinances like the one Adams Outdoor Advertising is proposing are common throughout the country.

“I think the ordinance has merit,” Saari said. “It allows us to stay in business.”

Adams Outdoor Advertising, a national corporation out of Atlanta, Ga. is one of the biggest advertisers in Madison as they do the Madison Metro bus wraps, parking garage advertisements and billboards, Judge said.

City Council President, Mike Verveer, District 4, said in a perfect world there wouldn’t be billboards, adding Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have eliminated and banned billboards in the entire state.

“There’s a time and place for something like time square,” Verveer said, calling the current “proliferation” of billboards on Regent Street and East Washington Avenue “very inappropriate,” especially as the latter is “such an important approach to the State Capitol.”

“Its different if they are along the interstate highway system,” Verveer said. “I consider them a visual blight on the natural beauty of our community.”