Tacoma City Council retains billboard moratorium | Politics

The Tacoma City Council voted Tuesday to retain a moratorium on the development of digital billboards.

The emergency moratorium was adopted in May for a period of six months to give the City Council time to review the Planning Commission's recommended changes to the city's sign code, and to prevent the construction of any billboards that may be out of compliance with the changes the council is reviewing. The moratorium will remain in place until Nov. 16, unless the council decides it needs more time.

The recommended changes include an outright ban on digital billboards, require maintenance increase regulation of other existing billboards.

Tacoma's billboard regulations have not been modified since 1997, when the city council enacted an ordinance requiring "non-compliant" signs to be phased out over the following 10 years.

Former mayor of Tacoma Bill Baarsma spoke during the public hearing to give the council a historical perspective.

"I'm here really to defend the actions of the 1997 City Council," he said, adding that Tuesday's meeting felt like "déjà vu." Much of Tuesday's discussion was the same that Tacoma was having in 1997, Baarsma said.

"We wanted to ban billboards outright. We could not without paying for the value of that, which was burdensome," he said.

This is the latest step in that more than decade-old battle between the City of Tacoma and media giant Clear Channel Outdoor. The fight began with the 1997 council's action. The media company had until August 2007 to remove the non-compliant billboards. Instead, it filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming it was forced to enter litigation to protect its "constitutional rights."

The City of Tacoma last year entered into a settlement agreement with Clear Channel that, if it were allowed to proceed, would allow Clear Channel to begin installing digital billboards in exchange for the removal of a certain number of existing billboards with each sign. It is worth noting, that digital billboards are known to be immensely profitable, and more than one public official has been quoted saying the company is anxious to get them built. The billboards, however, face fierce opposition from people who say they are ugly, distracting and dangerous.

Dozens of people, including Baarsma, attended the meeting to speak out for or against the moratorium and the construction of digital billboards in Tacoma.

Most spoke against billboards, citing blight, distraction for drivers and the environmental impacts, though several spoke up in support of Clear Channel Outdoor.

Peg Greiwe of the Graham Business Association described the media company as a "valued community partner," giving examples of marketing advice and pro bono work the company has provided for the association and the City of Graham.

Local CPA Dave Stolz spoke in favor of a "balanced and reasoned approach," saying an outright ban seemed extreme.

"The idea that all digital billboards are bad just doesn't seem reasonable," he said.