Rapid City, South Dakota met last night in an attempt to finalize a settlement with Epic Outdoor at their Monday night City Council meeting.

According to city records, in 2012 Epic Outdoor Advertising filed suit against the City based on the initiated sign ordinances which were adopted in 2011.  That sign ordinance drive was led by Scenic Rapid City, and resulted in restricting the size and spacing of static billboards as well as preventing outdoor companies from constructing any new digital billboards.  The sign ordinance created legal challenges from both Epic and Lamar Outdoor.  The Lamar suit was resolved in 2015.

Under the settlement negotiated with the City,  Epic has agreed to dismiss the lawsuits it has filed if the City agrees to increase the maximum size of billboards along Interstate 90 to 672 sq.ft. (14×48) and raise the maximum height of billboards along the Interstate to 40 feet. The City’s current maximum size for billboard is 250 sq.ft. and the maximum height is 30 feet.  The City is also agreeing to remove the stipulation that Epic run “public service” messages 20 minutes per hour on four of its billboards.  The City would also agree to amend the ordinance requiring a conditional use permit for work on an existing billboard including the conversion to a digital face. New billboard locations would still be required to obtain a conditional use permit.

Epic agreed to voluntarily stop running full motion video on all of its signs in addition to dismissing its lawsuits.  A full copy of the settlement agreement can be found here.

Scenic Rapid City has been vocal in stating that if the settlement was approved by the city council it would lead to future lawsuits.

The Council voted 8-1 to postpone the vote on the settlement until their July 3rd meeting. The council has asked for more information on how the billboards impacts residential areas.

Insider will update the status after the July meeting.

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