[Durham INC] FW: billboard update

[Pat Carstensen]

FYI

Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:57:31 -0500
From: molly.diggins at sierraclub.org
Subject: billboard update
To: NC-CONS-FORUM at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG


A controversial measure approved last year by the General Assembly at the request of the billboard industry is moving towards implementation.

In a divided vote, the Rules Review Commission today approved temporary rules that will allow permits to be issued to clearcut tens of thousands of the public's trees, some of them 50 years or more old, along interstates and major roadways. The changes are intended to increase viewing distance of billboards. Permits could be issued as soon as this spring. 






Impacts on local communities could be especially severe in western North Carolina, with large populations of older, large trees; as  well as communities with local ordinances intended to preserve existing vegetation. The new rules do not require replanting.





DOT estimates the value of the trees to the public at $12 million.  Ironically, North Carolinians invest approximately $5-6 million a year to beautify the state's roadways -- an investment that would seem to be severely undermined by the General Assembly having granted permission for wholesale cutting of the public's trees.






The new rules represent a big win for the billboard industry, which has sought similar concessions for years.





[Attached are simulation of the impact of the rules on a stretch of road in western NC]


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