Results tagged “billboards”

One lawsuit won, some 20 to go. A federal judge sided with Los Angeles in the never-ending battle over billboards this week. It was one of the three lawsuits filed by World Wide Rush, which "argued that it had a right to erect new signs or supergraphics because it requested permits during a four-month period in late 2008" when no ban was in effect, explained the LA Times. "Under the company’s logic, their applications were wrongly denied — therefore they should have a right to put up new supergraphics or signs now even though the city has a ban in place." But Judge Audrey B. Collins said companies can't install signs if no permits were issues. And in any case, it was unclear if the city had actually denied the permits.

When the city tried to regulate digital billboards earlier this decade, the advertising industry brought on the lawsuits. Out of one big cases, CBS Corp.'s Outdoor division and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. landed a major settlement in 2006: 800 billboards could be converted into digital ones.

Nearly two months into a ban on new digital billboards and supergraphics, a judge sided with the city of Los Angeles after one advertising company challenged the law. Liberty Media said exceptions had been granted in the past and that City Council had violated state law dictating open meetings. U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins said "none of theese claims have merit" in her tentative decision.

For the first time since 2002, the Los Angeles city council today voted to ban new billboards and supergraphics. Take note, this is not a moratorium like in the past, this is a b-a-n. The last time such an action was approved, the city ended up in years of litigation--some of still ongoing--thanks to a pile of lawsuits from the billboard industry who have reportedly installed thousands of illegal billboards in the meantime. Those same folks and a good number of their lobbyists who showed at today's meeting still oppose this and warn of constitutional rights being diminished. A lawyer representing the Roosevelt Hotel said the "ordinance has significant constitutional issues, and would have a legal challenge against it on constitutional grounds for substantive due process, procedural due process, and vague and ambiguous grounds." The ban also the conversion of billboards to digital ones and commercial signs visible from freeways.

Despite the rumors that circulated yesterday, Trevor Ariza did not end up backing out of his oral agreement with Houston to join LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal in Cleveland. Today the former Laker made it official signing on the dotted line of his multi-year deal, making him a Rocket.

With billboards and supergraphics as one of the hot topic items at city hall, a new staff report and proposed city sign ordinance has finally been released. It will be voted on next week Wednesday at a City Planning Commission.

City Councilman and City Attorney candidate Jack Weiss held a press conference yesterday to announce a tougher stance on enforcement of illegal billboards. “Because supergraphics are so profitable, full penalties must be brought to cut into the flow of profits and give enforcement some teeth,” he said. As Curbed LA explained, supergraphics on buildings pose a fire danger. Let's say a fire happens on an upper floor of a building, but there's a 5,000 pound supergraphic covering the windows. Well, that doesn't work if firefighters need use ladders and climb through windows. An online database will be built soon so the public can report and upload photos of illegal signs.

After becoming "roadkill" to lawsuits over the past seven years, Los Angeles finally got the upper hand in battling billboard blight (we have thousands of illegal ones) when the 9th Circuit Court yesterday sided with Los Angeles against a billboard company.

In a ruling that surely is making neighborhood activists rejoice, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "ruled that Los Angeles’ 2002 citywide outdoor advertising ban did not violate a sign company's 1st Amendment right to free speech." This means the city, which attempted to regulate the thousands of blightful billboards seven years ago before being hit with a barrage of lawsuits, can now go do that with more confidence.

Tomorrow night, South LA community members and the LAPD will be holding a vigil "to create community awareness to a series of 12 murders over a 22 year period that police believe were committed by a serial killer, to remember the victims and to disseminate information regarding these cases and the suspect(s)." The murders--all in the South LA region and mostly women--by the media-named "Grim Sleeper" occurred between 1985 and 2007 and are tied together by DNA testing. The LAPD is using four billboards to advertise their up to $500,000 reward to also create awareness and the vigil will be held at the location of one of those: southeast corner of Colden Avenue and Figueroa Street at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

Continuing the saga of fighting the thousands of illegal billboards in Los Angeles (to catch up on the controversy, watch this video), City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo today filed criminal charges against three property owners along the 110 Freeway near the LA Live/Staples Center area today for erecting illegal billboard support structures (see the map here). A construction company also was charged.

A reason why people are up in arms about billboard blight: "When a group of volunteers organized by City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight founder Dennis Hathaway recently counted up all the billboards in Rosendahl's district (district 11), a 4.2 mile-stretch of Lincoln Blvd revealed the biggest concentration of the billboards," says Curbed LA via Ban Billboard Blight. If you live in LA Council District 11, there are a total of 563 billboards including 17 digital ones. Westside!

That white square thing behind the billboard is a generator. That's right--not only are these bright digital billboards annoying as hell and have the potential to cause accidents, but they're also using up fuel and polluting the air with the generators. Thanks billboard industry. Thanks a lot.

The LA City Council is back from a small recess and today's meeting will not be a light one with two motions being introduced that will address the proliferation of electronic billboards in Los Angeles.

"It's another attempt by the Ethics Commission to make it undesirable to be a lobbyist, and it has no public policy benefit," billboard lobbyist Steve Afriat told the LA Times about a city Ethics Commission proposal of making lobbyists wear badges when they're "engaged in lobbying."

This morning on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!, outed CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson played a game called "You're a Blond Bombshell Who'll Do Anything For Attention." The focus of the three questions was LA's own billboard celebrity, Angelyne. Wilson failed miserably, as a CIA agent probably should, but how will you do? Answers after the jump...

Yes it's a material world, and we are material girls. But look what they've done to our great record store. Is that really necessary? Isn't there a law against defacing a tomb? The state of outdoor ads in Hollywood is a sorry one. People should say sorry....

Santa Clarita may have no business tax like Los Angeles, but they really have it in for signs. A 1990 sign ordinance does not allow tall billboard like signs (like the ones you may see from the freeway) within city limits. Until last year, the city gave businesses an opportunity to take down their signs within a long grace period. Then they got hardcore: On Thursday, March 16, 2006, the City of Santa Clarita...

"We need to ban billboard blight in Los Angeles as we strive to make our city greener and more livable!" ~ CBBB The answer is yes according to the CBBB. The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight says that Los Angeles City Council unanimously agreed "to settle a lawsuit that would allow hundreds of new or illegal billboards to get permits; allow second billboards on existing structures; and allow high-tech, digital billboards which can display...