CITY MOVES TO BAN BILLBOARDS COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS CHANGE IN ZONING CODES.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer BURBANK - With 18 new billboards potentially looming looming: see mirage. , the City Council is expected to discuss banning outdoor advertisement signs, including five being considered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The council enacted a moratorium A suspension of activity or an authorized period of delay or waiting. A moratorium is sometimes agreed upon by the interested parties, or it may be authorized or imposed by operation of law. last spring against new billboards while city officials studied the issue. Tonight, the council will discuss changing its zoning codes to permanently ban new billboards in all areas of the city. ``We're looking at the potentially negative impacts that can occur from billboards in terms of the visible impacts and adding to visual blight blight, general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of fruit trees), viruses (e.g., soybean bud blight), fungi (e.g. ,'' said city planner Paul Deibel, ``and the argument that billboards are intended to capture the attention of motorists and from that standpoint The Standpoint is a newspaper published in the British Virgin Islands. It was originally published under the name Pennysaver, largely as a shopping-coupon promotional newspaper, but since emerged as one of the most influential sources of journalism in the that they can create a hazard to safety.'' But companies that sell ads and maintain billboards said as more cities enact similar limitations and restrict sign locations, they create a glut glut pronounced as rut, slut Vox populi An excess of a service or skilled labor in a particular area. See Physician glut. of billboards in one area. ``Obviously, we perform a service and we create revenue tax dollars for various cities,'' said Bill Crabtree, president of Van Wagner Outdoor in Studio City. ``The cities that allow billboards but allow them to be present properly and aesthetically, they're fine. The problem is when cities begin to put moratoriums and control of where you can put billboards, those areas become cluttered clut·ter n. 1. A confused or disordered state or collection; a jumble: sorted through the clutter in the attic. 2. A confused noise; a clatter. v. with signs.'' An all-out ban, he added, would impact one of the last free advertising mediums available to consumers. ``You don't need a radio, you don't need a TV, all you have to do is look up,'' Crabtree said. Currently, billboards in Burbank are to be no larger than 25 feet and are allowed only in industrial, airport and railroad railroad or railway, form of transportation most commonly consisting of steel rails, called tracks, on which freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock are drawn by one locomotive or more. zones with a conditional use permit. There are 14 billboards in the city and the proposal before the council does not require that those come down. In April and May, the city received 13 applications for billboards - including two from Van Wagner - and learned about the MTA's consideration of installing five more along the railroad tracks. All new billboards are planned to be up to 50 feet high. Existing billboards are located throughout the city and on arterial arterial /ar·te·ri·al/ (-al) pertaining to an artery or to the arteries. ar·te·ri·al adj. 1. Of or relating to one or more arteries or to the entire system of arteries. 2. streets. On the other hand, 15 of the 18 are in the freeway corridor and would likely face the highway. City officials said they've asked the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. that the five locations identified within Burbank be taken off the list of 83 sites considered for about 44 signs. MTA officials said the signs would help raise money for the installation of self-cleaning restrooms and kiosks in other areas along train and bus routes. MTA spokesman Ed Scannell said the MTA board is expected to discuss the issue at a meeting late this month. He said the board will ``absolutely'' take into account municipal ordinances when determining where the billboards will be located. The Burbank City Council will meet at 7 p.m. tonight, in the council chambers, 275 E. Olive Ave. |
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