[Durham INC] Fw: The billboard companies are back--and they want your trees, and your money

[Pat Carstensen]

The Durham delegation doesn't need much telling about this -- but if you have friends with less enlightened representatives, please pass this on...  This alert comes from the Sierra Club.

Regards, pat



Please contact your House Rep in opposition to H 645, Revisions to Outdoor Advertising Laws!


H 645 will be up in House Transportation tomorrow...


Molly


The billboard companies are back in the legislature with a measure that would limit local governments’ control over the siting of billboards in their jurisdictions and grant billboard companies windfall profits when they are required to take down a billboard due to road widenings, etc. H 645, Revisions to Outdoor Advertising Laws, sponsored by Rep. Jason Saine, compiles perennial asks by the industry for special treatment at the public’s expense.


Similar bills in the past have passed the Senate but died in the House. This year, the industry is trying a different tactic. The bill is moving first in the House, where it may be overshadowed by much bigger news. H 645 is due to come up tomorrow in House Transportation, just as the House budget is rolled out and as lawmakers face the imminent crossover deadline.


Here’s more detail on what H 645 does.


Strips local control:

Section 5 would gut local government zoning power to control relocated billboards. Current law prevents NC DOT from issuing new billboard permits for any proposed new billboards or relocated billboards that violate local government ordinances. H 645 would allow the billboard industry to repair or relocate non-conforming signs, in violation of local ordinances.


Light up the skies - with digital billboards

H 645 would allow digital billboards to be erected when a sign is being relocated, even if local governments oppose.


Bilking the taxpayer:

H 645 revives an age-old ask of the billboard companies: If they are required to remove a sign due to a road widening etc., the compensation would be based on the projected future earnings of the sign (including digital) - not the much lower replacement value. This is contrary to court findings and recent NC Department of Revenue guidance.  It overburdens the taxpayer to the companies’ benefit. It also depletes the state’s transportation funds.


Bad for the public’s trees:

H 645 vastly increases the cut zone for billboards at the expense of the public’s trees being chopped down.













--
Molly Diggins, State Director
NC Sierra Club
19  W. Hargett Street Suite 210
Raleigh NC 27601
919.833-8467
molly.diggins at sierraclub.org<mailto:molly.diggins at sierraclub.org>
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