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L.A. Places Ban on New Digital Billboards and Supergraphics
For the first time since 2002, the Los Angeles city council today voted to ban new billboards and supergraphics. Take note, this is not a moratorium like in the past, this is a b-a-n. The last time such an action was approved, the city ended up in years of litigation--some of still ongoing--thanks to a pile of lawsuits from the billboard industry who have reportedly installed thousands of illegal billboards in the meantime. Those same folks and a good number of their lobbyists who showed at today's meeting still oppose this and warn of constitutional rights being diminished. A lawyer representing the Roosevelt Hotel said the "ordinance has significant constitutional issues, and would have a legal challenge against it on constitutional grounds for substantive due process, procedural due process, and vague and ambiguous grounds." The ban also the conversion of billboards to digital ones and commercial signs visible from freeways.
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
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