In 2008, a local dealership in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, sought approval from the City’s Planning Department to build a new Collision Center on its existing property along the Broken Arrow Expressway. At the time, Lamar Advertising maintained two back-to-back vinyl bulletins (four displays) on the site, prominently facing the highway.

The City conditioned its approval on three requirements: the dealership had to (1) construct a new frontage road with curb and sidewalk, (2) dedicate the road to the City, and (3) agree not to renew Lamar’s site leases when they expired in 2015.

Behind closed doors, the City held private meetings with the dealership’s counsel—described in trial testimony as negotiations in a “smoke-filled room” —to finalize the development agreement. Lamar was not invited to participate. That agreement was executed in 2008, and while the dealership built and dedicated the new road, the billboards remained standing until the leases expired.

When Lamar sought to renew the leases in 2015, the landlord refused, but continued to cash rent checks until 2019. Eventually, the City filed suit against the local dealership for breach of the development agreement, while Lamar filed its own claim for inverse condemnation.

At trial, Lamar was represented by experienced OOH attorney Bill Hickman, Hickman Law Group, with support from seasoned OOH veteran Pat Selcer, Lamar’s local General Manager. SignValue’s Paul Wright testified on behalf of Lamar, addressing both the value of the signs and the unprecedented demands placed on the landlord by the City. After four days of testimony and just two hours of deliberation, the jury found that the City of Broken Arrow had inversely condemned Lamar’s property rights and awarded Lamar damages.

SignValue would like to thank Lamar Advertising’s general counsel including James McIlwain, Connor Eglin and Wendy Loup for their trust in us.