The Tampa Bay Times reports that the Pasco County Commissioners have agreed unanimously to let out of home advertising companies convert static billboards to digital billboards.

• The number of digital signs is capped at 37.

• For each new digital sign the out of home companies must remove six existing signs based on square footage.  The billboard industry won a small victory here because a previous proposal called for a 10:1 takedown ratio.

• Sign flips must be 15 seconds.

• Digital signs will be limited to US 19, US 41, State Roads 52 and 54 and Interstate 75.

• The commissioners hope the ordinance will result in a reduction in the 509 signs which are in the county.

Insider’s take: Not a great ordinance.  A billboard company must spend more money for a digital sign with no increase in inventory because it must take down 6 faces for every new digital face and the ordinance permits only 4 digital flips per minute.  Not sure how you get payback on the digital sign costs.   The ordinance is also stacked in favor of big companies because they’ll have lots of inventory to prune.

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