The Wall Street Journal reports that a series of disputes over digital signs has arrived in sunny San Diego, where critics say a longstanding strict stance on new billboards is now under pressure from a proposal to allow outdoor digital kiosks.

Backers of the proposal in San Diego, which would install up to 75 interactive signs from the digital kiosk maker IKE Smart City LLC, say it would generate an estimated $14.7 million in ad revenue over 10 years, with part going to the city and nonprofit business association Downtown San Diego Partnership, and part going to IKE Smart City. Opponents argue the kiosks would be an eyesore and weaken the city’s ordinance against new billboards.

IKE kiosks are much smaller than digital billboards and emit “an imperceptible amount of light” onto abutting properties, according to the company’s development director, Jessica Burton. Their arrival would not affect the city’s regulations about billboards or weaken San Diego’s ability to prohibit other outdoor ads, she said in a statement.

Marketers are rapidly shifting their out-of-home spending toward digital signs because messages there can be easily tailored—for instance, to appeal to a certain demographic of commuters making their way home during rush hours. Digital billboards can also display multiple ads, meaning they can generate more revenue.

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