Insider has been tracking proposed Arizona legislation sponsored by Senator Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City.  The Arizona State Senate agreed this week to allow digital billboards in northwest Arizona.

The bill passed, SB 1114, allows for up to 35 signs and includes the following guidelines:

• Use all commercially reasonable efforts to use state of the art technology

• A cap on the level of illumination that is at least a third less than in other area where digital signs are allowed

• Firms that already have electronic signs where they are now allowed are required, “to the extent possible,” to replace lights “with new and advanced technology to decrease the artificial sky glow.”

The cap on illumination was at the request of astronomers at the University of Arizona who worked out a compormise with Lamar.  Existing Arizona law permitted electronic billboards in a swath from the Phoenix metro area west to Yuma. That 2012 deal specifically prohibited digital signs in the rest of the state.

The Arizona Daily Sun has more detail on the approved measure.

Insider’s take: Kudos to Lamar for working with the astronomers to mitigate concerns about light.  Trying to get to yes without the courts of a mandated solution is always the best approach.

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