Results tagged “blight”

       

Signage on buildings and along thoroughfares has evolved, as has the move to prohibit them in recent months. But the origin of the roof sign in Los Angeles reflects one aspect of our rich local history that runs the risk of being elbowed out by the more bully-like presence of neon-lit ads that now top buildings all over the city.

     

"Why haven't we heard a single word from Mayor Villaraigosa about protecting building tenants and the public from this appropriation of the city's visual landscape for commercial advertising?" That's Dennis Hathaway of BanBillboardBlight.org, an advocacy site that keeps current on the Los Angeles' billboard problems. Hathaway is referring to an LA Times editorial today that calls out Villaraigosa.

"The billboard industry is like a creature in a science fiction movie that expands to fill any space that you make for it, and then asks, 'Have I got your attention yet?' Yes, the city believes it is fighting 'Swamp Thing.' An extremely wealthy Swamp Thing." That's City Planning Commissioner Michael Woo, as quoted by Curbed LA, at today's billboard press conference dealing with new legislation that proposes to place a two-year moratorium on digital billboards until safety studies come out. As usual, lawsuits from the billboard industry are expected to be filed against such an action. (Photo of digital billboard via Ban Billboard Blight)

After becoming "roadkill" to lawsuits over the past seven years, Los Angeles finally got the upper hand in battling billboard blight (we have thousands of illegal ones) when the 9th Circuit Court yesterday sided with Los Angeles against a billboard company.

In a ruling that surely is making neighborhood activists rejoice, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "ruled that Los Angeles’ 2002 citywide outdoor advertising ban did not violate a sign company's 1st Amendment right to free speech." This means the city, which attempted to regulate the thousands of blightful billboards seven years ago before being hit with a barrage of lawsuits, can now go do that with more confidence.

Long Beach Councilmember Suja Lowenthal and the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency celebrated today over the removal of this blight along one of the City's main corridors.

A reason why people are up in arms about billboard blight: "When a group of volunteers organized by City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight founder Dennis Hathaway recently counted up all the billboards in Rosendahl's district (district 11), a 4.2 mile-stretch of Lincoln Blvd revealed the biggest concentration of the billboards," says Curbed LA via Ban Billboard Blight. If you live in LA Council District 11, there are a total of 563 billboards including 17 digital ones. Westside!

The LA City Council is back from a small recess and today's meeting will not be a light one with two motions being introduced that will address the proliferation of electronic billboards in Los Angeles.

"We need to ban billboard blight in Los Angeles as we strive to make our city greener and more livable!" ~ CBBB The answer is yes according to the CBBB. The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight says that Los Angeles City Council unanimously agreed "to settle a lawsuit that would allow hundreds of new or illegal billboards to get permits; allow second billboards on existing structures; and allow high-tech, digital billboards which can display...