Bill lights up billboard debate

Billboard owners and some legislators say billboards should stand, while scenic advocates say they should fall. Some favor upgrading billboards to digital technology, while others say digital billboards are dangerous and increase blight.

Early plans to widen interstates 44 and 70 led state Sen. Bill Stouffer, the Republican chairman of the Senate’s transportation committee, to introduce billboard legislation that deals with both facets.

Under current law, many of the 2,239 billboards along the interstates would be permanently torn down to make way for interstate construction. Stouffer’s bill, which is a substitute for Senate bills No. 809 and No. 872, would save taxpayer money by relocating the billboards, according to Heidi Kolkmeyer, Stouffer’s director of constituent services.

Kolkmeyer said relocating the billboards along interstates 44 and 70 would cost about $60 million, as opposed to about $120 million to buy-out the billboards and raze them – the alternative under current law.

The bill also would allow for digital upgrades to many existing billboards – upgrades currently prohibited by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Inventory at risk

Billboard restrictions were originally set in Missouri in 1968, but increased pressure from anti-billboard groups in the late 1990s led to tighter laws.

“They were just trashing the outdoor advertising industry,” said Bill May, executive director of Springfield-based Missouri Outdoor Advertising Association, referring to attacks by anti-billboard groups. “They had catch-phrases, like ‘pollution on a stick’ and all this other crap.”

There’s a lot at stake in the billboard fight. May, whose organization is lobbying for the bill, estimated that billboard advertising is a $50 million industry in Missouri, and 98 percent of the states 9,500 regulated billboards are classified “nonconforming.”

Nonconforming billboards were built legally, but they are no longer legally conforming because regulations have tightened. Advertising displays can be changed on nonconforming billboards, but the billboards can’t be relocated or structurally altered.

If nonconforming billboards were in the way of interstates 44 and 70 expansions, they would be permanently torn down, unless Stouffer’s bill passes. May said about 75 percent of billboards along the interstates would get “wiped out” if the legislation doesn’t pass.

John Regenbogen, executive director of Scenic Missouri, is working to stop Stouffer’s bill from passing through the legislature. Regenbogen’s St. Louis-based organization promotes highway beautification through billboard control.

“There is the possibility that there will be a large number of billboards being removed,” Regenbogen said. “We feel that’s very good for Missouri. It will be an opportunity to reclaim our landscapes. It will be a reinvestment in an improved image in Missouri, and we feel ultimately that that will benefit tourism and economic development.”

May said about 1,500 nonconforming billboards have been destroyed for good since 1999 due to development and severe weather. He noted that slashing the billboard inventory would hit hard Missouri’s tourism industry, notably Branson, where about 8 million visitors flock each year. There are about 350 billboards in Christian and Taney counties, many of them promoting Branson hotels and attractions along U.S. Highway 65. Billboards along I-44 also announce Branson as a destination.

Regenbogen countered that reducing billboards would appeal to heritage tourists – those who seek historic and cultural sites to visit. Regenbogen also said many tourists preplan trip routes with the Internet and in-car global-positioning systems.

Lori Simms, Missouri Division of Tourism communications administrator, said her organization has a neutral position on the billboard legislation.

“We understand the need for directional signage to help people find tourism attractions and accommodations,” Simms said. “But we also understand the need to keep (billboards) in some sort of regulated fashion so that they’re not overwhelming the landscape so people can enjoy the natural beauty.”

Digital landscape

The second component of Stouffer’s bill would allow for digital upgrades to nonconforming billboards. Missouri Outdoor Advertising Association supports the provision for the new technology, while Scenic Missouri opposes the provision.

Digital billboards have a rotation of advertisers on one space, giving billboard advertising access to a greater number of businesses as inventories decline, May said.

Tracy Kimberlin, executive director of Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, also favors digital billboards.

“Frankly, (digital) boards look better,” Kimberlin said. “They are a lot more eye appealing than the traditional boards, which sometimes either the vinyl or the paint is not in good shape.”

Only about 800 of the nation’s 450,000 billboards are digital, according to Jeff Golimowski, communications director of Washington, D.C.-based Outdoor Advertising Association of America. There are two digital billboards in Springfield, one in Hollister and two in Joplin.

Missouri Department of Transportation allowed owners to digitally upgrade nonconforming signs as long as the upgrades didn’t structurally alter the billboards, but MoDOT issued an emergency amendment to stop the upgrades Dec. 2 after a Federal Highway Administration audit of Missouri’s billboard enforcement program determined the upgrades were not allowed. That noncompliance jeopardized $55 million in federal highway funds.

Regenbogen said Scenic Missouri opposes digital billboards because they are unsafe and increase blight.

“We’re very confident in the safety of digital billboards,” Golimowski responded, pointing to a pair of 2007 studies that deemed digital billboards were “safety neutral. Our members are good corporate citizens. They’re members of their communities, and they would never want to do anything that would put drivers and customers in danger.”

Regenbogen said digital billboards, which change advertisements about every seven or eight seconds, are more distracting to drivers than traditional billboards.

The studies Golimowski cited were conducted by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and private engineering group Tantala Associates, and they were paid for by the nonprofit Foundation for Outdoor Advertising Research and Education, which is an affiliate of Outdoor Advertising Association of America. Regenbogen said a Maryland State Highway Administration review of the studies found bias, and he said an upcoming Federal Highway Administration study should support his Scenic Missouri’s claim that digital billboards are dangerous.

“It is particularly irresponsible for the legislature to unleash a digital landscape upon Missouri while the (Federal Highway Administration) is engaged in a comprehensive study that will likely conclude that such signs need to be strictly regulated, or perhaps even prohibited completely,” Regenbogen said.

Results of the Federal Highway Administration study should be released next year.

Stouffer’s legislation has moved out of committee and is on to the Senate floor. A vote could come before session ends in May, and if approved the bill would become law in August.

Billboard Legislation

What A Missouri Senate bill proposes relocating nonconforming billboards instead of tearing them down to make way for interstate construction. It also proposes allowing currently banned technology upgrades.

So What Missouri has a $50 million billboard industry with about 9,500 billboards statewide, but 98 percent of the billboards are considered nonconforming. Billboard opponents say billboards clutter Missouri’s landscape, and they are working against the Senate bill.

What’s Next The bill is on to the Senate floor, and a vote could come before session ends in May. If approved, the bill would become law in August.

Related Story: The History on Billboards[[In-content Ad]]