AUGUST 20, 2009 ISSUE
What To Do with Billboards?
Watauga Commissioners Hear Public Comment on Sign Ordinance Amendments
After months of debate concerning proposed amendments to the Watauga County Ordinance to Regulate Signs, only five people took part in a public hearing on the proposed changes during the Watauga County Board of Commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, August 18. Two of the speakers were against the proposed changes and three speakers were for stricter regulation of the signs that they deem dangerous, distracting and an eyesore.
Background
In April, after the Watauga County Planning Board had spent 10 months readying amendments to the sign ordinance, the Watauga County Commissioners voted to extend a moratorium on all billboards and all off-premise electronic signs in the county until October 23 after hearing negative reactions to the ordinance’s arbitrary language from one of the billboard’s owners, Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Watauga County Planning and Inspection Director Joe Furman proposed the extension to give the commissioners more time to tweak the ordinance and change the language. When the commissioners adopted the moratorium extension in April, they agreed to host public hearings to hear from constituents before the moratorium expired. After hosting a joint meeting on the subject with the planning board last month, the commissioners hosted a public hearing last Tuesday.
Public Hearing
“This hearing is only to seek input,” said Jim Deal, chair of the commissioners. “We’re not making any decisions tonight.”
Craig Justice, an Asheville-based attorney representing Lamar Outdoor Advertising, told the commissioners on Tuesday that he and his client do not have any problem with the ordinance’s proposed application to new signs but are “concerned with any retroactive action.” Lamar Outdoor Advertising owns three digital billboards in Watauga County, one of which is located on Highway 421 next to Food Lion.
“We’re here to protect those signs,” said Justice, who submitted a request to the commissioners to grandfather in the three existing signs in the county. Justice also questioned the commissioners’ authority to phase out signs that are already regulated by NCDOT and questioned some of the arbitrary language that persists in the proposed changes to the ordinance.
“On the whole we are not opposed to this ordinance, just those retroactive elements,” said Justice.
Echoing Justice’s sentiment was Jamie Machut, vice president and general manager of Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Machut thanked the Watauga County Planning Department for its willingness to work with his company and requested that the commissioners grandfather in the three existing signs in Watauga County.
Park Terrell, who lives in Rutherwood and owns B. Park Terrell Insurance Agency in Boone, said he drives by the digital billboard on Highway 421 near Food Lion multiple times per day and thinks the commissioners should ban those types of signs in the interest of protecting the natural aesthetics of the High Country. Terrell said that four states have recently banned all outdoor signage and he supports that thinking in Watauga County.
“I think Watauga County is a special place and it is up to us as citizens to be good stewards,” said Terrell. “It’s come to a point in this community that we, as men and women, need to say that we don’t need bright digital signs in Watauga County. We can do better. It’s not the spirit of the land.”
Hanes Boren, owner of Footsloggers in downtown Boone, admitted that he rents a billboard from Lamar Outdoor Advertising yet he is still in opposition to the use of digital billboards. Boren said he believes digital billboards are dangerous and “they speak to the ‘I made you look’ philosophy that we already have too much of with talking on cell phones and texting while driving.” He believes banning digital billboards is good for the county.
Dr. Tara Connelly, an emergency medicine physician in Boone, told the commissioners that the signs are a hazard to drivers. Most of the digital signs in Watauga County, she said, are in low-lit areas and near high-speed roadways, which creates further distraction for drivers than just the signs’ flashy lights.
Deal said the commissioners have not set a date yet to vote on the proposed changes. The next regular commissioners’ meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 15, at 6:00 p.m.
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