The News & Observer reports that North Carolina billboard owners would be able to prune more trees along NC highways under a bill approved by the House. The bill would expand the “view zone” for each billboard, allowing companies to remove trees and vegetation from state right-of-way up to 500 feet from the sign.

Currently in North Carolina it is illegal to cut native dogwood and redbud trees that are located on highway right-of -way.  The new bill would eliminate the protection for redbuds. “A redbud can be 30 feet tall and 35 feet wide, and we’ve got some billboards that are only 25 feet high,” TJ Bugbee, executive director of the N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association, said in an interview. “We’ve got a lot of instances where there’s a redbud smack in the middle of the face of the billboard.”

As expected, Scenic North Carolina is opposed to the new legislation and they are trying to mobilize opposition to the measure.

The state regulates billboards, but state law also refers to the “right of validly permitted outdoor advertising to be clearly viewed by the traveling public.” Lawmakers have debated over the years how far to go in accommodating the industry to ensure that right.

The bill would levy a fee of $150 per caliper inch — the diameter as measured near the ground. Cutting a good sized tree could cost $1,000 or more, encouraging owners to be selective.

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