A judge on Friday gave two outdoor advertising companies three days to
pull the plug on 77 digital billboards across Los Angeles, attorneys for the
city said.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry Green demanded that dozens of
signs operated by Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor go dark by 5 p.m. on
Monday, representatives of both sides said. The signs had been allowed under a
much-criticized deal between the two companies and the City Council.
The ruling was hailed by anti-billboard activists, who have argued for years
that the digital displays constitute blight and frequently shine into neighbors'
homes.
"This is what we've been waiting for now for six years," said Dennis Hathaway,
president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight, who planned to monitor one
of the signs near his home in Venice on Monday. "I'm going to be out there
personally at 5 o'clock to watch it go dark," he said.
Still unresolved is the fate of as many as 22 other digital signs owned by the
two companies, said William Carter, chief deputy to City Atty. Carmen Trutanich.
Those will be taken up by the judge Tuesday, he said.
The judge's order covered 80 signs, three of which had permits that expired
before the digital technology was installed, Carter said.
Clear Channel spokesman David Grabert said his company, which had 67 of the 80
signs, will take "all legal steps" to restart operation of its electronic
billboards. The company will also seek new legislation to allow digital
billboards, he said.
"Turning off these signs, even temporarily, hurts the community and the economy
of the city of Los Angeles," Grabert added.
The City Council reached an agreement in 2006 with CBS and Clear Channel to end
a legal challenge to the city's sign ordinance by allowing up to 840 existing
billboards to be converted to electronic formats. That agreement was later
challenged by a smaller sign company, Summit Media, which called it a sweetheart
deal that gave two big corporations $100 million per year in new revenue while
ignoring existing sign laws.
A three-judge panel sided with Summit in December, ordering the revocation of
permits for approximately 100 signs, many of which are on the Westside. Since
then, CBS and Clear Channel have been trying to preserve the signs while seeking
new legislation from the City Council that would allow additional digital
billboards to go up in targeted areas.
Timothy Alger, a lawyer for Summit, said he was gratified by the judge's
decision but may still seek to have the sign structures themselves demolished.
He lambasted city officials for entering into the arrangement in the first
place.
"The fact of the matter is, CBS, Clear Channel and the city were all wrongdoers
in this thing," he said. "They collaborated to enter into an illegal contract."
Trutanich, who was elected in 2009, issued a statement Friday thanking the judge
for providing guidance on the sign litigation. He said he is committed to a
"transparent path" for approving digital billboards that "gives all residents
and all companies a fair stake in the process."
david.zahniser@latimes.com
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