How much unfettered access should advertisers have to public space—along our freeways, in our neighborhoods, even in our brains? It’s a question we thought City Hall had already tackled in 2002 when the City Council passed two laws targeting the 10,000 “off-site†billboards that sit on public land rather than on a company’s property. Two prominent billboard companies, Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor, didn’t see it that way. Instead, they sued the city of Los Angeles, arguing that the fees the city charged for our mental property—just over $300 per billboard—was out of control.
In a tentative settlement reached this week, the two companies have agreed to take down about 100 billboards, along with any additional ones that do not have a city permit. In other words, the two companies may have finally agreed to abide by the law. What do they get in exchange for such genial cooperation? The city would allow both companies to “modernize†420 billboards to use changing images and other flashy technology. What a deal. One lobbyist who has represented Clear Channel in the past commented, “This is much fairer than before, and the fee came down some and took some of the heat off the billboard companies financially.â€
Considering that other states have outlawed billboards, and that cities like Denver and Seattle have placed a cap on the number they’ll allow, the laws passed by the City Council are reasonable and should be upheld. Asking companies to maintain valid city permits, comply with inspections and pay a fee per billboard makes perfect sense. A company like Clear Channel can afford the fees. What we can’t afford to do is give corporations, for free, what little open space is left in this city.