Note:  Dennis Hathaway was asked to inform the Update readers of the status of the non-blinking boards hovering above the neighborhoods.

By Dennis Hathaway, president of the coalition to ban billboard blight (CBBB)

 As anyone who has been on Lincoln Blvd lately knows, digital billboards have been shut off.  For many people, that’s reason for celebration, because bright, garish advertisements blinking on and off every eight seconds throughout the day and night do nothing to enhance the quality of life in Venice and other communities.

But Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor have mounted a huge lobbying effort to get the 99 digital billboards in the city turned back on, in exchange for giving the city a share of revenue from the signs and other unspecified community benefits.  So the big question hanging over the issue is:  Will that that effort succeed?

To the Ground
But there’s another question that will be the subject of a court hearing scheduled for July 16.  That’s when a judge will consider a motion requiring the billboard companies not only to keep the 99 digital billboards turned off, but to actually remove them, right down to the ground.  But even if the judge rules that the companies have lost the right to operate those billboards in any form, don’t expect to see billboards like the ones at Lincoln & Superba and Lincoln & Washington to suddenly disappear, since the companies will undoubtedly appeal such a decision as far as legally possible.

New Advertisers Want Signs
Another legal issue of interest to Venice is a lawsuit filed in April by Lamar Advertising, a company that currently has no digital signs in the city but wants the court to order the city to issue permits for 45 brand-new, full-sized digital billboards in a variety of locations, including ones at 428 and 4680 Lincoln Blvd. in Venice.  The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight has retained a sign law attorney and plans to petition the court for the right to enter the case in defense of the city.  This could not only strengthen the city’s case, but help preclude any backroom settlements like the one in 2006 that gave Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor the right to convert 840 of their conventional billboards to digital and led to the long, costly legal battle that finally resulted in the order to shut the signs off.

Inspections Show Violations—Permits, Maintenance
A third issue of interest to people in Venice concerns the recent city-wide billboard inventory and inspection recently completed by the Department of Building and Safety.

According to the results, there are 40 billboard structures in Venice with a total of 65 faces.  Of those, nine are out of compliance with their permits and another five have maintenance violations such as unremoved graffiti and rusted structures.  The most serious violations are second faces added without permits, such as Clear Channel billboards at 328 and 2454 Lincoln Blvd., but others are significantly higher and larger than specified by their permits.

“Legal Status” for Not Being Cited for Five Years
Earlier this year, a group of Venice residents who have been active in issues involving Lincoln Blvd. met with the City Attorney’s office to discuss this issue, but it is unclear if any action is forthcoming, due to a state law that grants legal status to billboards that haven’t been cited for violations within a period of five years.  However, that law has been challenged in court and private legal action against the billboard companies might be a possibility.

Regular news updates on billboard issues of interest to Venice and other parts of the city are posted on the BanBillboardBlight website at www.banbillboardblight.org.