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A mobile billboard on Fulton Avenue in Sherman Oaks | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist
A state law that will take effect January 1st will allow local governments to regulate mobile billboards, those unhitched trailers that display advertisements and are left on streets for weeks or months at a time, mostly in the San Fernando Valley. Complaints over the years have piled up about the signs because residents see them as blight, a public safety hazard and reason why parking can be difficult in some areas.
A Los Angeles city transportation panel on Wednesday took up the issue and set a goal for having a law in effect at the stroke midnight on New Year's Eve. Former LAPD motorcop and current City Councilmember Dennis Zine said he's put together a task force of fellow reserve officers that will perform a sweep of the mobile billboards on New Year's Day. "We will eradicate this from the city," he said.
Meanwhile, city staff are working on a ordinance to ban mobile billboards from the city. In order to start enforcement on New Year's Day, the ban must be approved by the city council and signed by the Mayor 30 days prior. An enforcement plan and possible business license restriction will also be considered by officials.
"There needs to be tough sanctions on these," said Zine. "They plague the San Fernando Valley and other parts of the city."