The push to permit digital signs in Indianapolis stalled after Clear Channel Outdoor swapped out of Indianapolis and the Clear Channel Outdoor execs leading the digital push took other jobs. Now WTHR and the Indianapolis Business Journal report that Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett issued a proposal to permit digital billboards. Here are the highlights.
- The plan would permit the conversion of 20 static billboards per year in Indy to digital with a total of 65 digital sign faces permitted over three years.
- Priority would be given to signs around the 465 loop and its arterials.
- Digital signs aere not permitted within 600 feet of historic preservation districts, hospitals, parks, universities, churches and schools.
- An out of home company must to take down 2 square feet of billboard space for every square foot of space that it converts to digital.
Insider’s take: Nice to see some movement after years of delay. A 2:1 exchange rate is reasonable. The plan will be subject to hearings and public comment during May and is not expected to be formally considered until the summer. Insider agrees with the Mayor’s chief of staff: better for Indy to develop a digital sign policy before the courts decide for it.
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But, doesn’t this proposal create another legal challenge? A provision requiring removal of existing in favor of new digitals makes it a qualifying requirement that the permit applicant already own billboards which the city would like to see removed. Doesn’t that place an unreasonable hardship on qualified and experienced operators who do not have inventory to be exchanged?