Billboard regulation has been a hot topic in Asheville, from the 2012 fight over a digital display on Merrimon Avenue to 2004 disputes over the size and removal of the outdoor advertisements. This year, North Carolina legislators dive into the controversy again with House Bill 304, which would “restrict the ability of local governments and state transportation officials to regulate the placement of outdoor advertising, … make it easier for companies to convert billboards into digital screens and raise the cost of acquiring billboards by the Department of Transportation,” the News & Observer reports in Raleigh. Here’s more from Jim Morrill‘s report. For the full story, click here.
For the third straight legislative session, environmental groups and local government advocates are fighting a measure sought by North Carolina’s billboard industry.
House Bill 304 would restrict the ability of local governments and state transportation officials to regulate the placement of outdoor advertising. It would make it easier for companies to convert billboards into digital screens and raise the cost of acquiring billboards by the Department of Transportation for purposes such as road widening.
Billboard companies also would get more leeway to cut trees, including native dogwoods and rosebuds.
Industry officials call it a jobs bill that would help billboard companies preserve what they have and allow advertisers to maintain access to consumers.
Critics call it an “unprecedented new giveaway” to the billboard industry.
Read more here.
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