Letter to the Editor: Billboards add to Branson's success

The concerns expressed by Cal LeMon in his Nov. 19 column, “Mega-ads cloud Ozarks landscape,” already have been addressed by the Missouri Legislature.

LeMon expressed disappointment in the voters turning down Proposition A, banning billboards in Missouri and requiring the removal of thousands of existing signs at taxpayer expense.

He also is concerned that billboards will be built on the Ozark Mountain Highroad in Branson. This highway was specifically designed and built to be a scenic byway. Prior to its construction, the outdoor industry agreed to and supported legislation designating this highway as a scenic byway and prohibiting off-premise outdoor advertising. When MoDOT acquired the property to build the highway, they also acquired scenic easements on the adjoining property – which also prohibits billboards.

Missouri’s laws and regulations for outdoor advertising were legislatively amended in 1998 and again in 2002. Stacked signs are no longer allowed.

The size of signs allowed has been reduced by 33 percent, and the spacing between signs on this highway has been increased from 300 square feet to 1,400 square feet during the last several years.

The current state regulations for outdoor advertising are now stricter than those of any of our neighboring states.

These are just a few of the significant changes in Missouri law since most of the signs on Highway 65 were built.

All of the existing signs are now grandfathered in as nonconforming, and as they are lost to development and acts of God, they cannot be replaced. Since the legislative amendments adopted in 2002, the number of existing signs on Missouri’s primary and interstate highways has fallen to about 10,000 from more than 11,500.

The Missouri Legislature has addressed LeMon’s concerns in a reasonable manner that balances the interests of property rights, the business and tourism industry, and free speech rights with valid concerns about aesthetics. The approach taken by the Legislature will gradually reduce the size and number of billboards on Missouri’s highways at no cost to the state’s taxpayers. The Legislature also understands that outdoor advertising is by far the most effective and least expensive way for Missouri’s tourist-oriented businesses to reach the traveling public.

Let’s be honest – while billboards should be reasonably regulated, they make a substantial contribution to Branson’s success.

Without billboards to promote the theaters, theme parks and other attractions, many of these businesses would have failed.

Talk to any cave owner, motel operator or gas station owner, and get the other side of the story before deciding the Ozarks would be a better place to live if there were no billboards. If you work in a travel or tourism-related business, your job may very well depend on a few billboards on the highway.

—William H. May, executive director, Missouri Outdoor Advertising Association