It has been about five years since we last visited the town of Wenatchee, Washington which brought up the issue of amortization that we weighed in a separate article.

The city of Wenatchee passed an ordinance in 2019 calling for the elimination of all billboards by 2030. KPQ.com writes that last week, the city council voted down an amendment to the ordinance that would allow Outfront Media to add a double-sided digital sign in exchange for the removal of seven of it’s traditional signs.  The vote denying the amendment was unanimous and Council member Linda Herald said the public was clear.  “The number one comment that I hear is that people want the beautification of our streets.  Billboards don’t beautify the streets.”

The proposed amendment for the sign swap plan with Outfront Media was mediated  for four years after Outfront appealed the city’s 2019 ordinance to the Growth Management Hearings Board in 2020.

A representative with Outfront Media warned the council before their vote, the decision could lead to costly compensation payments to outdoor advertising companies for the taking of property.

It was also reported that a representative of Lamar Outdoor told the council it would be interested in a similar deal to remove some of it’s billboards and add a digital sign if the amendment was passed.

Billboard Insider’s Take: You have a town council that hears from their constituents that they would like to see less billboards. Your answer originally was to amortize billboards out over a 5 to 10 year period, eliminating all billboards in the city. Since it is very clear in both state and federal law that if you require a permitted, conforming  board to be taken down, just compensation is required. And, of course, the billboard companies appealed the proposed ordinance.

Then, the city has an opportunity to eliminate 14 signs for two brand new digital billboards, and maybe expanding beyond that.

Someone please explain to us why rolling out this amended plan is not a win for the City of Wenatchee (which is a lovely city in our home state along the Columbia River)?

Feel free to send your thoughts to johnweller@billboardinsider.com or provide us your comments below.

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