Yea, No More Billboards Coming to Austin Scenic Roadways!!! (...at least for now)

 

Friday, 9 May 2008

Council Member Mike Martinez was honorable in his promise to remove the worst of the provisions from the sign amendment ordinance he is sponsoring. At the 8 May 2008 City Council meeting he proposed removing the provisions that would have allowed:

• billboards to be relocated to Scenic Roadways
• an increase in the sign face size 300 to 672 square feet, and
• changing the maximum billboard height to be measured 25 feet above elevated highways

With the changes CM Martinez proposed from the dais the Council passed the first reading of the ordinance with a 7-0 vote. CM Martinez also proposed removing the replacement provisions of the ordinance. The Planning Commission has not discussed or made a rcommendation on that particular proposal, so it is going back to them and will return to the Council agenda after there is a recommendation from the Planning Commission.

There were many more than 6 people at the public hearing for this issue, but you can read Sarah Coppola's otherwise good summary of the Council action which appeared in the 9 May 2008 American-Statesman.

Previous Status:

Here is the latest comparison (1 May) of the existing to the proposed sign regulations, as recommended by the Design Commission, Urban Transportation Commission, the Codes and Ordinances subcommittee, and the Planning Commision. Read the 18 April press release and the Tuesday, 22 April Austin American Statesman story "Controversial billboards idea scrapped."

The Austin Design Commission, which is responsible for advising the Council with respect to Urban Design Issues in the City, submitted comments to the Mayor and City Council on 7 April 2008. The Commission provided many sound comments and recommendations on the proposed Amendment to the Sign Ordinance. Read the 2-page report.

Scenic Austin has compiled photographs of the portions of the designated Scenic Roadways that the "task force" has "recommended" be eligible for relocated billboards per the proposed ordinance. These are the sections that outdoor advertisers claim to be so developed and blighted that huge (672 sq ft) billboards would have no negative affect. View the pictures.

In the 15 April 2008 Austin American Statesman billboards article Councilmember Jennifer Kim gets it right: ""Council Member Jennifer Kim opposes those changes because she thinks they could open the door to allowing billboard on other scenic roads." "The 620 and 2222 area is vulnerable and under constant threat, and even if those roads are not included this time, I worry they could be in the future," she said."" In January 2007 Reagan National Advertising indeed was requesting variances for every provision of the billboard relocation ordinance in effort to relocate 4 billboards to RR620 with 2 of them near the intersection of RR2222. Both RR620 and RR2222 are recognized by the City of Austin as designated scenic Hill Country Roadways.

Is Houston More Progressive than Austin?!? After considering a "relocation" agreement last December that would have given Clear Channel Outdoor the right to relocate 466 billboards, the Houston City Council has reached agreement with Clear Channel to completely remove 831 billboards (a two-thirds reduction of the company's inventory) from across the city, 51 of them from designated "scenic districts," by the end of this year! A spokesman from the Quality of Life Coalition states "I think relocation was a complete and total non-starter." Read the 7 April 2008 Houston Chronicle article.

Thank you Austin Citizens and Planning Commissioners!

At the 8 April 2008 meeting the Planning Commission voted unanimously (8-0) to send the proposed sign regulation amendments (billboards issue) back to subcommittee for further study so they can make a responsible recommendation to City Council. Some of the commissioners commented about the substantial quantity of public comment they received, noting how personalized and factual the content was. Thank you residents for taking the time to understand the issue and let them know your opinion.

On Tuesday, 15 April, the Codes and Ordinances subcommittee of the Planning Commission met to further discuss the proposed amendment. Some of the major recommendations from this session included:

• remove Scenic Roadways from the proposed changes
• limit the number of years that a relocated sign can be in place from 25 to 10 years
• limit relocated signs to 300 sq ft instead of the proposed 672 sq ft
• do not increase or change the method for measuring height limitations
• keep the property owner rather than the sign owner as the registered owner
• maintain a minimum of 800 ft from school property boundaries
• maintain a minimum of 1,000 feet from residential use or zoning property boundaries

THANK YOU subcommittee members and Planning Commissioners. Regardless of the outcome we appreciate your time and effort evaluating the effects of the proposed changes, and your service to the Austin community.

Read the background information presented below to learn as many details as you desire, and contact our City leaders to let them know your opinion on this issue. The Billboard executives and lobbyists are applying intense pressure for amendments that allow continued proliferation of billboards, and our Mayor and Councilmembers need to hear from you.

Background Information

If approved, these changes could result in the placement of very large (672 square feet) billboards along RM 2222, Loop 360 and RM 620 and other designated scenic roadways . Your help is needed now to stop this egregious violation of Austin’s Scenic Roadways.

Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act in 1965, and many thought billboards would become obsolete after that time. But the law was riddled with loopholes and enforcement was so lax that billboards continue to proliferate. The billboard lobby uses many tactics to oppose regulation of billboards. But with persistence and a good attorney, meaningful regulation is possible—hundreds of cities, towns, and counties, in addition to five states, prohibit billboards. On 8 April and 10 April 2008, Austin is considering passing an ordinance that would encourage the proliferation of billboards.

Reference Documents

Draft Ordinance Backup for 8 May City Council Meeting
Pictures of Scenic Roadways proposed for Billboards
Design Commisssion Comments on Proposed Amendments
"Austin residents fear billboards could be moved to scenic roads," Austin American Statesman article by Sarah Coppola (15 April)
"Mayor flips the blight switch", 7 April Houston Chronicle
"Sign language", 12 April Houston Chronicle Editorial
Revised CofA Inventory of Billboards (10 April)
Inventory of Austin Billboards (5 April)
Notification of Proposed Changes to Sign Regulations
Comparison of Current to Proposed Regulations (3/18/08)
Comparison of Current to Proposed Regulations (4/23/08)
Comparison of Current to Proposed Regulations (5/1/08)
Summary of Stakeholder Meetings
Stakeholder Comments
City Council Resolution for Changing Sign Regulations
Scenic Texas Billboard Fact Sheet
President Johnson's Remarks at passing the 1965 Highway Beautification Act

---excerpts of President Johnson Remarks at the Beautification Act, October 22 1965

"There is a part of America which was here long before we arrived, and will be here, if we preserve it, long after we depart: the forests and the flowers, the open prairies and the slope of the hills, the tall mountains, the granite, the limestone, the caliche, the unmarked trails, the winding little streams--well, this is the America that no amount of science or skill can ever recreate or actually ever duplicate."

"Now, this bill does more than control advertising and junkyards along the billions of dollars of highways that the people have built with their money--public money, not private money. It does more than give us the tools just to landscape some of those highways. This bill will bring the wonders of nature back into our daily lives."

"And as I thought of you who had helped and stood up against private greed for public good, I looked at those dogwoods that had turned red, and the maple trees that were scarlet and gold. In a pattern of brown and yellow, God's finery was at its finest. And not one single foot of it was marred by a single, unsightly, man-made construction or obstruction--no advertising signs, no old, dilapidated trucks, no junkyards. Well, doctors could prescribe no better medicine for me.."

Issues Summary

Following are some of the major concerns with the currently proposed City of Austin ordinance amendment as compiled by Scenic Austin. Scenic Texas also provides an informative fact sheet regarding billboards in Texas.

MAJOR CONCERNS WITH CURRENTLY PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT

The DRAFT Ordinance provided as backup for the 8 May 2008 City Council meeting does NOT reflect the "streamlined" version that has been promised by CM Martinez, and changes will be made from the dais after the public hearing is closed!!!

• Proposed ordinance calls for billboard relocation to Scenic Roadways.  Scenic Austin believes that it is absurd to call a roadway scenic and allow for billboard relocations.  Practically speaking, it would create an unfair burden for business owners who must adhere to other elements of the Scenic Roadways code (landscaping and signage restrictions) even if a billboard is placed on or adjacent to their properties.  If a roadway is no longer meeting the criteria that earned it a place on the list, the roadway should be de-commissioned, rather than create a subset of Scenic Roadways on which a billboard may be relocated.
• Proposed ordinance MORE THAN DOUBLES the allowed sign face size for billboards relocated to Commercial Corridors, which are most likely to be adjacent residences.  Scenic Austin continues to believe that 500 feet from a residence (on a residentially zoned district) is not enough.  Increasing the maximum allowed sign face square footage from 300 SF to 672 SF on commercial corridors will only exacerbate a problem with the existing ordinance.
• Proposed ordinance does not address serious issues with the current ordinance, and creates more leniency in an ordinance where liberties are already being taken.  The City staff is currently investigating four (4) of the sixteen (16) billboards that have been relocated under this ordinance for submitting a false prior address (essentially using the current ordinance to illegally erect new billboards within the city limits, which has been prohibited since 1984).  Two (2) billboards were re-erected at the previous site after relocation.  One (1) was listed as removed from the property by the land owner in 2004, and was relocated long after the one year provision had expired.
• Current ordinance removes the only proven effective method of removal of billboards in the City of Austin.  Per City Staff, between 1999 and 2004, approximately 125 (25 per year) billboards were removed as land uses changed.  Since the ordinance was passed, we have seen an increase in four illegal billboards, and none have come down. 
• Current ordinance is not meeting its stated goals.  When the ordinance was passed, Council stated that the goal was to remove billboards from desired redevelopment zones, specifically East Austin and the downtown area, and from Scenic Roadways and Historic areas.  Since the relocation ordinance was passed, none of the billboards were relocated from any of these areas.
• Current schedule for the proposed amendment does not allow for sufficient investigation of current data.  Council has directed this proposed amendment to move with all speed.  It is only to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the Urban Transportation Commission, and Council intends to hold its first hearing on April 10th.  Currently, staff is still investigating several of the billboards that have previously been relocated, and continue to analyze the data.  Current ordinance does not have benefit of any of this data.

List of Designated Scenic Roadways

Following are the scenic roadways that are currently designated in the City of Austin Sign Code regulations (Chapter 25-10 of the Land Development Code.

§ 25-10-6  SCENIC ROADWAYS DESCRIBED.

     The following are scenic roadways:

     (1)     Arterial 8 (Adelaide Drive/Forsythia Drive);

     (2)     Barton Springs Road;

     (3)     Loop 1 (MoPac);

     (4)     Loop 360 (Capital of Texas Highway), south of US 183;

     (5)     RM 620, from SH 71 to Anderson Mill Road (FM 2769);

     (6)     RM 2222, west of MoPac only;

     (7)     RM 2244;

     (8)     Lake Austin Boulevard;

     (9)     West Cesar Chavez Street;

     (10)     Riverside Drive;

     (11)     Spicewood Springs Road, from Mesa Drive to Loop 360;

     (12)     William Cannon Drive, from Brodie Lane to Southwest Parkway;

     (13)     Escarpment Boulevard, from William Cannon Drive to Arterial 11 (SH 45);

     (14)     Arterial 5 (McKinney Falls Parkway) from US 183 to William Cannon Drive;

     (15)     FM 973 from SH 71 to US 183;

     (16)     SH 71 east of IH-35;

     (17)     US 183 south of SH 71;

     (18)     Cameron Road, north of US 183;

     (19)     Parmer Lane, except for the area between Loop 1 (MoPac) and IH-35;

     (20)     Stassney Lane, east of IH-35;

     (21)     Slaughter Lane;

     (22)     Old Spicewood Springs Road, from Loop 360 to Old Lampasas Trail; and

     (23)     SH 130.

Source: Section 13-2-1; Ord. 990225-70; Ord. 000511-110; Ord. 031211-11; Ord. 20060112-058.