Omaha by Design's Position Statement on Electronic Billboards
11.03.08
Introduction:
Since its founding as Lively Omaha in 2001, Omaha by Design has worked to improve the quality of the built and natural environments throughout the metro. We support well-considered development, as evidenced by the compromise reached with Wal-Mart regarding the design of its large retail store at 72nd and Pine.
When Lamar Outdoor installed five electronic billboards in Omaha last April, we felt this action was in violation of the existing city code. On June 3, the Omaha City Council passed an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance that clarifies the prohibition of electronic billboards. The amendment, effective through Dec. 31, gave the city planning department time to negotiate with the two billboard companies currently operating in Omaha regarding the potential regulation of electronic billboards in the city.
In July, we hosted an open forum on electronic billboards to provide the public with background information on issues surrounding their use and the opportunity to voice their opinions on the subject. We also hosted an informal web survey to further solicit public opinion. The results of this survey are available here.
As negotiations between the planning department and the billboard companies continued in the ensuing months, Omaha by Design provided input regarding the proposed regulation of electronic billboards in the city.
Our position on the subject is as follows:
Omaha’s Urban Design Element, which was unanimously adopted by the Omaha City Council as part of the city’s master plan, directs the city to “reduce and improve” billboards, particularly within Areas of Civic Importance. Although Omaha by Design agrees with the majority of the planning department’s proposed regulations regarding electronic billboards, we take exception with two items in the proposal as outlined below.
As a point of reference, San Antonio, Kansas City and Denver have regulations that limit the number of electronic billboards in their cities to 15, 5 and 0, respectively.
- The planning department proposes to cap the number of electronic billboards a company may install at eight percent of its inventory of conforming static billboards. This could result in a total of between 18 and 26 new electronic billboards in Omaha. Omaha by Design proposes that the planning department cap the total number of electronic billboards any company may install at the lesser of eight percent of its inventory or 10, and that no more than 5 of the electronic billboards may be of the “jumbo” size (672 square feet). This translates to 10 electronic billboards for Lamar and 5 electronic billboards for Waitt.
- If a billboard company wants to install an electronic billboard, the planning department proposes that the company be required to remove existing static billboards at the following exchange rate (these rates apply to billboard faces, not poles or structures): Industrial Districts, 3 static billboards; Areas of Civic Importance and Interstate Frontage, 5 static billboards; All Other Districts, 4 static billboards. Omaha by Design believes these rates are too low, as they fail to solve the problem of removing existing billboards that don’t conform to current zoning code regulations. We propose the following exchange rate: Industrial Districts, 3 static billboards; Areas of Civic Importance and Interstate Frontage, 7 static billboards; All Other Districts, 5 billboards.
The Omaha Planning Board will consider the proposed regulations at its Nov. 5 meeting. The time to voice your opinion is now - before the currently proposed regulations are approved.
Comments may be sent to info@omahabydesign.org.
