Stop Freeway Billboards

Please forward to anyone else who might be interested in stopping a proposal that can eventually lead to lining our freeways with billboards. Check out the attached pdf for a visual representation of what might be in the future.

Thanks,

Dennis Hathaway

STOP FREEWAY BILLBOARDS!

On Tuesday, March 18, the city council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee will be asked to approve a special use district to allow 70 ft. high, digital billboards on an MTA bus yard alongside the 10 freeway downtown. This ill-conceived proposal will open the door to turning our freeways into corridors of advertising, and should be opposed by anyone who doesn’t want to see the visual spaces of our city filled with advertising. Mayor Villaraigosa has come out in support of allowing these billboards, so it is critically important that as many people as possible raise their voices in opposition. Please send an e-mail or call the committee members (contact info below) and urge them to vote NO. And if possible, come to the meeting at 2 p.m. in Room 350 of City Hall to join others in speaking against allowing these billboards.

There are many reasons why this proposal should be defeated. Among the most important are:

* The brilliantly-lighted ads changing every eight seconds looming over one of the most heavily-trafficked sections of freeway could distract drivers and cause injury and even death. At the least, they will surely slow already-congested traffic.
* Allowing any freeway billboards sets a terrible precedent for the future. The fact that these billboards would be owned by Clear Channel means other companies will demand the same privilege.
* These billboards would violate the city’s own ordinances regarding the distance of signs from freeways, as well as a state law that prohibits the establishment of anything other than small advertising signs on MTA property.
* The City Planning Commission unanimously voted against allowing the billboards. Commission President Jane Usher said that allowing them would open a door that could never be closed again.
* Special use districts for signs were specifically meant for entertainment areas, such as Hollywood Blvd. and the Staples Center Area downtown, not for an MTA bus yard that happens to be alongside a freeway.

For background information on this billboard issue, read the following article that appeared in the CityWatch newsletter. http://www.citywatchla.com/content/view/970/

Contact these PLUM committee members to voice your opposition:

Ed Reyes, Chairman 213-473-7001, councilmember.reyes@lacity.org

Jack Weiss 213-473-7004, councilmember.weiss@lacity.org

Jose Huizar 213-473-7014, councilmember.huizar@lacity.org