Lamar gets whupped in Vestavia

To quote President Bush, Lamar got "a thumpin'" from the Vestavia Hills Board of Zoning Adjustment last night. They have to shut down their digital billboard until the BZA can decide whether to give them a variance. If you don't follow billboard issues closely, this might not seem like a big thing, but it is quite stunning. This board was not taking any of the usual excuses from Lamar. Here's the background, and some of the comments from the meeting.

Lamar owns a few billboards that are "grandfathered" in Vestavia Hills. Back in the spring, Lamar put in an application for a board "with LCD lighting" - no details. A couple of months later, this giant television screen shows up where a billboard used to be, in a curve on a dark two-lane road. The city got complaints, the police said it was a hazard, the neighbors were furious. The city sent a cease and desist letter and Lamar responded that the sign complied with the law.

The city's zoning person asked the BZA last month to decide if the sign violated the ordinance. The BZA said it did - that it was intensely lighted and they considered it animated, both of which are against the ordinance. They told Lamar to apply for a variance if they wanted to keep the sign.

At last night's meeting, Lamar got raked over the coals, politely but firmly. Their lawyer said they had turned down the intensity and lengthened the time between changes. They were told that they should have shut the sign down entirely - just because you've applied for a variance doesn't mean you'll get it and you have to stop the violation in the meantime.

Lamar said they had gotten the original permit "in good faith." They were told that they should have disclosed what they were doing, because they knew at the time that this was a controversial type of sign. They were told that they applied under "false pretenses" and that if they had applied for a variance in the first place it probably would have been turned down and they would not have been out all their money.

Two residents of the Rocky Ridge area spoke and said the sign is unsafe because of where it is. One speaker brought up a subject that I touched on afterwards when I spoke, which is that if you let this sign go through, then you open it up for everyone putting up TV screen signs and then it would be a mess.

I spoke for Scenic Alabama. I brought up a couple of technical issues about nonconforming signs and court rulings. But the most important point is that if you give a variance for a digital billboard, then you set a precedent for the same kind of signs for businesses. Imagine - Ruby Tuesday could have a TV screen showing slides of their entrees. Jiffy Lube could have a slide show of their specials. You'd eventually have a Highway 31 corridor with just slightly more class than Reno. And I know that's not what Vestavia Hills' citizens want.

Where we stand now is that the sign has to be shut off until the BZA meets again in December. I don't know what Lamar will do, but I know that if they have any sense they'll take the d**n thing down, put a print billboard back up, and don't try to pull a fast one next time.

There are more juicy tidbits but I don't want this post to be too long. If you want my complete report, send me an email or give me a call.