We've Moved!

The new address for Scenic Alabama's blog is www.scenicala.blogspot.com. Please come visit!

Join us to Celebrate Scenic Alabama

UPDATE SEPT. 29: We are honored to also have as our guest for this event, Mr. Ed McMahon, a co-founder of Scenic America, world-renowned planner specializing in sustainable development, AND who holds a master's degree from the University of Alabama. If you would like to attend and have not RSVP'd, please drop us an email and we'll hold your ticket for you at the door.

A scenic state doesn't just happen - it takes people working together for their communities. On Oct. 2, we will honor the people who started the Scenic movement in Alabama, as well as today's heroes.

Click here for E-vite and PayPal!

Host: Scenic Alabama
Location: Southern Progress HQ, Atrium
2100 Lakeshore Drive, Homewood/Birmingham, AL 35209 US
When: Thursday, October 2, 6:30PM
Phone: 205-322-2120
Cost: $45 per person

Come celebrate our beautiful state! Scenic Alabama has been fighting billboard interests in Congress, in the Alabama Legislature and in city halls across the state. We've educated elected officials and policy makers. We've helped citizens to protect trees and beautify highways. We've won most of our fights, thanks to our members and supporters. Now we want to recognize the people who have stood up for a scenic state.

Our honored guest is Kevin Fry, president of Scenic America.

Alabama honorees include
Mayor Tony Petelos of Hoover for his commitment to green space and opposition to billboards,
Daphne city council members Gus Palumbo and Cathy Barnette, who refuse to surrender to billboard interests,
Trussville city council member Wayne Taylor for his work on sign control and roadway beautification,
Mobile City Council member Connie Hudson for leadership in enacting a strict digital billboard ordinance,
City of Cordova (in the I-22 corridor) for its planning process and new sign ordinance banning billboards,
"Tree Heroes" Freida Romanchuk of Daphne and Janine Raby of Fairhope, whose hard work led to a new state policy that protects trees on public right of way,
and others!

We will also recognize those individuals who started the scenic movement in Alabama, and we'll announce new initiatives including
state laws to strengthen the Highway Beautification Act
a recycling program for plastic signs,
re-invigorating the wildflower planting program, and
stopping the onslaught of ugly, distracting digital billboards and signs.

Good Food! Beautiful setting! Great people! Please join us to celebrate our past victories and look forward to a more beautiful Alabama.

And please join us on Oct. 2 as we go forward toward a more beautiful state.

They put WHAT on a billboard?

One of the secrets of billboard advertising is this: advertisers go for shock value but what they really want is for "legitimate" media to do a story about it. Here's a perfect example:

A billboard on display in Orange County, Florida shows the World Trade Center towers burning while telling passers-by: “Please Don’t Vote for a Democrat.” The local ABC News affiliate reports that the person responsible is a local musician “trying to help Republicans” but that “officials with both political parties are calling the billboard inappropriate.”

No matter how many people might drive by this billboard on a highly traveled road in Florida, that number pales in comparison to the national coverage it got on television news, blogs and online. Tomorrow you'll be reading about it in the local newspaper. This one relatively small expenditure for an in-your-face billboard leverages millions of dollars of free advertising (for this guy who apparently wrote a song and is trying to sell his CD).

Billboards, like most advertising, just don't have the credibility that press coverage does. So people who have controversial opinions, or who want to get free publicity by doing a tasteless ad campaign, will get a billboard so they'll get a story in the newspaper. That's how they really plan to sell their product or their idea.

This was my comment on one political blog, and a response:

I hate billboards no matter what's on them... and part of the reason is that there is NO restriction of what can go on them - money talks. The billboard company can sell space to whoever they want to (or decline to sell it, which happens a lot as well). So the billboard folks decide what is going to visually assault you while you're peacefully driving down the road.

A secret of outdoor advertising is that billboards like this are not intended to get you to change your mind - they're intended to get media coverage and then that's what gets a response. It worked, didn't it?

Response:

• One of the things I like about Maine.....
  

  ....no billboards. Just nice discreet little blue signs.
  

  • Vermont, too.

City of Mobile votes new rules on digital billboards

The Mobile City Council has voted to restrict digital billboards, and they rejected an attempt by billboard interests to put units closer to residential areas.

As originally passed by the Planning Commission, the law would let the back of a digital unit be 250 feet from a residential area. I've been told by someone who attended the Council meeting that the council changed that provision to require the entire billboard to be 500 feet away. This is basically reverting to the original 1994 billboard ordinance.

The new regulations generally require a nonconforming billboard to be removed for each digital unit installed, and also restrict how bright they can be.

You can get an overview of the changes and the vote at the Mobile Press Register.

(The OASIS proposal, for supply caches and ground-level digital ads, was not up for consideration at the council meeting. I will try to have more details on this as it develops.)

Digital Billboard Trojan Horse?

What more than madness has possess'd your brains?... Somewhat is sure design'd, by fraud or force: Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse. From The Aeneid, by Virgil

The citizens of Mobile and Prattville have been offered a Trojan Horse. If it is allowed in, then we will end up with communities that look like the Las Vegas Strip, all for some bottled water and a storage pod.

A company called OASIS has come into Mobile and said they’ll put up storage units, stock them with emergency supplies and do it all for free. The catch? Nothing much - just a couple of Jumbotron TV screens so they can sell ads. Just digital billboards at ground level every 400 feet or so. They’ve convinced some city officials, and if it’s not nipped in the bud then these will be infesting our state like fire ants.

OASIS has presented itself as a foundation which works on community preparedness. However, this program has much less philanthropic beginnings.

This is the logo that OASIS used when they were featured by the Lexington (Ky.) Venture Club in early 2007. The company name is an acronym for Outdoor Advertising Storage and Integrated Systems. (That name is not on the logo as it is currently being used.) This is an outdoor advertising company that wanted to break into the market, and came up with a creative way to put billboards into communities. This is what their ad said:

Introducing a new category of outdoor media
OASIS is launching a next generation Outdoor Advertising company that will introduce a new category of outdoor media to meet the burgeoning demand of advertisers for more outdoor media exposure at a time when new typical outdoor locations are becoming harder and harder to attain. Utilizing storage modules as the vehicle to place attractive, state-of-the-art advertising displays onto retail and commercial sites will provide a new category of outdoor advertising that will be in high demand. OASIS has developed and patented a business methodology which will facilitate the placement of these combination storage/advertisement modules onto thousands of retail and commercial locations. To initially rollout the business and gain traction, OASIS has developed a disaster relief Program and partnered with various Emergency Planning agencies whereby OASIS provides free storage space to pre-stage disaster commodities into communities in exchange for the assistance Emergency Planning agencies at each community level.

A press release from January states that Oasis Foundation of America is a philanthropy headquartered in Montgomery. An internet search showed no listing at the nonprofit registry Guidestar.org nor at the Internal Revenue Service listing of nonprofits. An internet search on the name “Oasis Foundation of America” shows only the press coverage and blog mentions, and not any organizational information.

An email listing for the foundation has the URL of sos-oasis.org. This goes to a single page with the OFA logo, a phone number and an email address.

Oasis Ad Group is not listed as a corporation with the Alabama Secretary of State.

Oasis Foundation of America is listed in the 2008 membership directory of the National Emergency Management Association, with Joe Montgomery as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, with an address of 1375 S. Broadway, Lexington, KY, 40504. This address is identified on Google Maps as the Crowne Plaza Hotel Lexington. Mr. Montgomery is identified as the owner of the hotel in the Better Business Bureau web listing.

The website for the “S.O.S. Supplies On Site” program includes some interesting information which is different from what is in the press release material.

The program is described as providing two types of modules. “Blue modules” are stocked with bottled water: “(T)the goal...is to deploy a sufficient bottled water supply in each community...[for] the first 48 hours.” There is no mention of any other supplies. The silver module is empty. The blue module is 10x10x20, which is two feet wider and higher, and four feet longer, than the biggest PODS storage system. The silver modules are 8x8x20, which are not much smaller.

The only thing that is promised is half the units will have water in them, and that the local EMA has access. The community has to stock the units. OASIS owns the modules.

OASIS decides where they are going to be placed, not based on where is best in an emergency but rather where it is best for advertising. “OASIS will have final authority on the selection of all site placements.”

The digital billboards were deployed at the Mobile Red Cross headquarters, but complaints about glare and driving hazard has reportedly led to them being shut off.

There are already community-based emergency storage facilities. They are called fire stations and police stations. These are buildings with emergency power and staff on hand.

None of the newspaper articles or press releases go into any of the logistics of these units. Will they withstand hurricane-force winds and storm surge? Who has the keys? What happens if the power goes out? How will they be protected from vandalism? What kinds of supplies will they hold, and is this the best way to store them? How do you get access in an emergency, especially if there are floods, trees or power lines between the unit and the EMA personnel?

As far as the signs themselves, we are talking about large signs (the side of the units are at least 8x20 and the front/back is 8x8) at eye level with drivers. Most cities with sign ordinances have banned portable signs with flashing lights because of their distraction, and these are basically the same thing with a flashier picture.

The Mobile City Council is acting on some changes to the zoning ordinance to regulate digital billboards. The current regulations have been worked out over several months, and although they are not perfect (in our opinion digital boards need to be banned) at least they give the citizens some control. Now, OASIS has come in and asked to water down the regulations so that they can put their signs up. Don’t be mistaken - this is not about putting out emergency supplies. It is about being able to put up huge arena-style digital screens right at driver eye level so you can see ads for beer and TV shows.

How to act: ask the Mobile City Council to do two things: vote in favor of the original proposal which regulates digital signs, and vote against the Oasis proposal to allow digital signs at ground level on the sides of portable buildings. Email links are available here. If you prefer, you can email Scenic Alabama and we will forward it, or post a comment.

If you live or work in Mobile, please communicate with the Council. If you live in Mobile, Baldwin, Elmore or Autauga Counties, it would be good for you to contact the Mobile Council as well as your own local officials. Your communities are next. Regardless, if you are a citizen, you should be concerned about this effort to bring blight into your community with no real positive impact in return.

Digital Billboard loses, we hope not for the last time

The Jefferson County Board of Zoning Adjustments voted (gif file, zoom to read) yesterday unanimously to not let Lamar Advertising put up a giant electronic billboard near Brookwood Hospital. There's a regular billboard right now - on the east side of U.S. 31 going up the hill from Lakeshore to Vestavia Hills. It is hard to imagine a worse place for a Jumbotron TV screen, and the BZA agreed.

I unfortunately missed the first few minutes of Lamar's presentation to the Board, but I did catch the part where Tom Traylor said that a digital billboard there was not only a good idea but "essential" to the community. As they always do, they talked about Amber Alerts, and putting up pictures of wanted criminals. (I have some answers to that - including how the heck you're supposed to remember all that information if you're paying attention to the road - which I will expand on in a future post.)

This particular case brings up the bigger issue of billboard companies finding every possible pocket of unincorporated land and putting up billboards, usually within a city that doesn't allow them. They just put up a digital billboard on Highway 150 in Hoover, on land that's still in the county. I would not be surprised if they've approached the owners of land down the road that's for sale, about doing the same thing. (As of this week, there were no permit requests, but I will keep an eye out.)

The county has a cap on the number of billboards, but all that means is that they can take a billboard down somewhere (maybe on U.S. 78 where it is bypassed by Corridor X) and put one up in a new location. It's a huge loophole that is letting Lamar basically thumb its nose at cities like Hoover and Vestavia that don't want billboards.

The only real solution is for the county to change their sign law to not allow new billboards, and to have an immediate moratorium on digital boards. Otherwise, citizens will continue to get their right to peaceful enjoyment of their property trampled on.

We tried a couple of years ago to get the County Commission to consider this, but came up against a brick wall. It will take a lot more public pressure to get them to take action. If you want to stop the billboard companies from taking over your city, join us! We can do it with your help.

HB628 is down, but not out

UPDATE: As of Friday, April 18, HB 628 has not been voted on. The Rules Committee has been asked to put it on the Special Order Calendar, which would put it on the floor of the House for a vote. The committee has not taken any action. Scenic Alabama supporters have been contacting Rules Committee members as well as their own Representatives to ask them not to put it on Special Order. We believe that since it is not an urgent matter, and it is opposed by many city officials and citizens, that it should not be given preference on the House calendar. The rules committee meets Tuesday; look for an update at that time.

House Bill 628, which I wrote about below, has been toned down quite a bit. Originally it would have eliminated permit fees for signs, which would have made sign ordinances impossible to enforce. Click here for a PDF of the original version.

The substitute bill (PDF here) is set for a third reading and possible vote on Tuesday, April 15. We are still opposed to it, and so is the Alabama League of Municipalities.

We are encouraging people to contact their Representative in the House and ask them to vote NO on HB 628. Those on our email list will be getting an action alert and a web contact form, or you can use the following information to call today or tomorrow. We've got a good chance of beating this bill - please take action to help!

ACTION ALERT:

HB628 would prohibit cities from charging permit fees on certain signs, which could negatively impact a city’s ability to enforce its sign ordinance.

This bill is scheduled for a possible House vote on Tuesday, April 15.

HB 628 as it was originally introduced prohibited a political subdivsion from charging a fee for a sign permit. This would have been disastrous for cities which control signs, since without a permit fee there would be no enforcement mechanism. It would have created a situation where anyone could put up any kind of sign (including billboards) on any piece of private property, and you would only be able to go later and tell them to take it down. As we have seen in numerous lawsuits by billboard companies in that situation, after-the-fact action is very difficult.

Scenic Alabama members and supporters responded to action alerts and contacted committee members as well as their own legislators. City officials contacted the Alabama League of Municipalities, which opposed the bill. We requested a public hearing in committee, which was held March 25.

At that meeting, Scenic Alabama presented a packet of information showing what the results could be if this bill was adopted. Speaking against the bill were representatives from Scenic Alabama, the League of Municipalities, and representatives of cities including Orange Beach, Mobile and Birmingham. One person spoke in favor of the bill: a representative of the Alabama Association of Realtors.

Committee members said they were surprised at the outcry over the proposed bill; the committee chair stated he received more calls on this issue than any other since he had been in office. He postponed the bill so that all parties could meet again and discuss it.

At that subsequent meeting, it became clear that the main issue that the sponsor wanted to address was signs like political signs in someone’s yard. The Alabama Realtors Association was interested because of “For Sale” signs. We explained that sign ordinances exempt these kinds of signs and that no one even requires a permit for them, much less charges for them. The sponsor then came up with a substitute which applies to temporary signs.

The subsitute HB628 was sent to the House with a favorable recommendation from the Committee, and is now set for its third reading and a vote.

Scenic Alabama remains opposed to the bill, as does the Alabama League of Municipalities. We know how importat it is to cities to have a strong, enforceable sign ordinance. Good sign controls result in an uncluttered, attractive area where you can find your way easily and which appeals to residents and visitors. Any law that restricts a city’s ability to enforce its
sign ordinance is a bad law, particularly when there is no balancing benefit.

SAMPLE LETTER OR PHONE TALKING POINTS:

I would like to ask you to vote NO on HB 628, the “Private Property Signage Act.” This law could weaken local sign ordinances, which would have a negative impact on my community.

The subsitute bill before you would keep a city from charging for permits on some signs. However, permits are the way that sign ordinances are enforced, and a permit fee is the way a city could choose to make sure those permits are obtained. Sign ordinances exempt the kinds of temporary signs that are addressed in HB 628, which makes the bill unnecessary.

Thus, HB628 would make it harder for a city to enforce a sign ordinance, without conferring any benefit on citizens.

Citizens have worked very hard to keep our neighborhoods, business districts and towns looking nice for the benefit of our residents and visitors. As part of that effort, our city governments pass zoning ordinances and sign codes. These are adopted because the public, that is we the citizens, want to have some control over how our neighborhoods look. The sign ordinances address a real need for an orderly and attractive community.

I ask you to support our local communities who want to control signs by the means which best suit the community. Please vote NO on HB 628.