Craven County Commissioners hear public opinion on billboards

July 2, 2007

The Craven County Board of Commissioners heard from the public Monday on an ordinance it is considering to regulate billboards. Billboard industry spokesmen said it is excessive. Local residents said it is appropriate. The off-premises ordinance proposed by the Craven County Planning Board would limit billboard size to no greater than 360 square feet, 40 feet high, with at least 2,500 feet between boards on either side of the road. “That is so excessive it will render almost every billboard in Craven County non-conforming,” said Mark Odell of Lamar Advertising, whose territory covers 33 eastern North Carolina counties including Craven. The national company he represents owns 136 billboard signs in Craven County areas potentially affected by the proposed ordinance, including four digital signs, plus others within city limits of several municipalities in the county. “They don’t realize the impact this would have,” Odell said. The most restrictive spacing in other cities and counties in the region is 1,000 feet and Lenoir County requires only 500 feet between signs. He said 1,000 feet would do almost the same thing. Residents such as John Kirkland, feel differently, however. “Anybody who takes a look in the James City area toward Havelock can see it has really become a blight area,” he said. “The 2,500 feet, roughly a half mile, seems reasonable, and restrict the signs so they are not so gigantic.” Other requirements are minimum setbacks of 10 feet for up to 180-square-foot signs and 20 feet for 181- to 360-square-foot signs. The ordinance would ban new digital electronic billboards, preclude double-stacked billboards and regulate content, particularly obscenity as defined by state law. Nonconforming signs could be maintained for the reasonable life of the signs but the proposed ordinance would not allow them to be replaced if damaged and repairs exceeded 50 percent of the actual value. Odell said new studies, including one being made public July 10 by Virginia Tech, show that digital signs do not pose distracting danger to drivers, as some officials and hearing participants suggest. Lamar has an investment of nearly $250,000 per digital sign and “pays a lot of money to Craven County in taxes and to landowners for use of their property,” he said. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc. lists the most common sizes of billboards in this area as 400 square feet and 378 square feet, and the commissioners plan to change to ordinance to conform. A six-month billboard moratorium set Feb. 19 expires in August.

Source: Sun Journal, Sue Book