By Marnie Christine Cody Ware, Attorney, Hamlin Cody

Billboard Insider’s post last week (2/19), Los Angeles Considers New Billboard Rules, described proposed rules that would allow relocation and permit conversion from static to digital in “Tier 3” sign districts.  At the hearing on 2/25, the Planning Commission voted against “Tier 3” sign districts rejecting the notion of relocations and conversions on public or private property.  In short, the Commission completely disregarded directives from the City Council and its Planning and Land Use Committee (PLUM).  With mostly technical modifications, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to “repass” its 2015 version of the proposed Sign Ordinance (known as Version B+).  Version B+ has been hotly contested since its inception.

Nothing about the Planning Commission’s decision is surprising.  We participated in many stakeholder meetings including in the early days when alternative considerations were barely underway, and the billboard ban was still a mere temporary moratorium.  The Planning Commission and the City Council have rarely seen eye-to-eye on off-site signs—static or digital.  It will be surprising if they do the next time around.

Public comments were close to evenly split on the advantages and perceived disadvantages of digital displays.  The Commission’s decision expresses a far more one-sided view, with some Commissioners arguing there are no reasonable community benefits that warrant “turning Los Angeles into Time Square or West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip.”  This observer and at least one Commissioner noted that the Planning Department’s staff report included a photo depicting a stretch of the Sunset Strip—not an LA City street—adjacent to the heading Billboard Blighted Areas.

The sign regulations proposed in new Version B+ will go back PLUM at least once again before reaching the full Council.  Like the Planning Commission, there are new members sitting on the Council and its PLUM committee.  Time will tell how that change will play out.  But how much time?  One public speaker exclaimed, “We’ve waited 20+ years for an updated billboard ordinance.  Hopefully, we won’t have to wait another 20!”

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the City Council and not the Planning Commission to enact a revised Sign Code.  Perhaps, the current Council will prioritize better than their predecessors and move forward with a reasonably effective set of Citywide Sign Regulations that are better suited to meet the needs of Los Angeles residents and businesses alike.  The Commission’s Version B+ is still not the answer.

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