Protecting the visual environment of Los Angeles is important and the current situation regarding digital billboards in Los Angeles and the City’s process threatens that environment. Among other things, digital billboards pose a distraction for drivers and cause light pollution in residential neighborhoods. In a victory, California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled recently that two sign companies should not have been allowed to convert billboards to digital. However, when the City’s PLUM committee was scheduled to discuss the pending sign ordinance on December 11th, 2012 it quickly postponed the discussion to January 22nd, 2013, a move most feel is to give sign lobbyists time to make the ordinance more favorable to them and to investigate ways to validate those illegal digital billboards. Though the current sign ordinance has its limitations it does contain several important provisions and numerous community organizations (including Residents of Beverly Glen Inc.) and many neighborhood councils have weighed in on the ordinance. Those significant provisions include (from www.banbillboardblight.org):
• Limiting off-site digital signage such as billboards to special sign districts, where they can be strictly regulated to avoid negative effects on residential neighborhoods and traffic. These sign districts would be limited to intensive commercial areas such as large shopping and entertainment centers, thus precluding digital billboards from appearing on regular commercial streets.
• Prohibiting signage such as large “supergraphic” banners and wall and fence wraps advertising commercial products and services in city parks and recreation areas.
• Increasing penalties for maintaining illegal signs to a level that can serve as a real deterrent to companies tempted by large profits to cover buildings with supergraphic signs or maintain billboards that were put up or altered without permits.
• Requiring new off-site signage in sign districts to be offset by the removal of existing billboards from the surrounding communities, thus reducing neighborhood blight.

The sign ordinance needs to be finalized immediately without further modification from lobby groups representing advertising interests.
What you can do.
If the issue of illegal digital billboards, potential for advertising in City parks, and dishonest process is of concern to you please email hillside@beverlyglen.org by January 19th. Your personal information will not be shared though we will have a greater impact if we can tell the PLUM committee that a number of our residents have also expressed concern and PLUM should respect and uphold that ban on those digital billboards and keep advertising out of parks.