Compromise could solve city billboard lawsuit

Not that it should back down on enforcing city laws, but Murfreesboro needs to revisit its sign ordinance regarding electronic messaging signs.
We believe the City Council can find a way to allow the technology of today's billboards without letting the city turn into another Las Vegas.

Lamar Advertising of Tennessee filed suit against Murfreesboro Aug. 22 claiming the city wrongfully revoked its permit for the Old Fort Parkway billboard that changes advertisements every eight seconds.
Murfreesboro has an ordinance passed this year prohibiting all electronic messaging signs and a long-standing law that prohibits flashing signs for commercial purposes.
We fail to see, though, how the billboard near DoubleTree Hotel and Starbucks injures the city of Murfreesboro and its residents. The technology is here and the signs enable more than one company to advertise at once. Whether the sign looks good is typically in the eye of the beholder, but make no mistake, this is the type of sign that is being seen across the country.
So why is it being rejected in Murfreesboro? Because the sign ordinance is too rigid. The city also revoked the sign permits of two convenience stores that were using lighted signs to advertise the price of gas, even though they didn't flash, blink or change every eight seconds. The sign stayed up at one of those stores after the Board of Zoning Appeals allowed it on a technicality.
The BZA rejected Lamar's arguments, however, and now the city is in the midst of another lawsuit over its sign ordinance. In the 1990s, Murfreesboro lost a court battle when it exempted American flags from size restrictions. Eventually, the courts found that all flags should be restricted and the city forced Goo-Goo car wash to remove a huge flag from its new business last month.
The City Council, however, is considering allowing larger flag displays of 150 square feet on 50-foot poles. If the city can bend on that part of the ordinance, why not on the flashing billboard section?
Officials made the right move when they heard the cries of residents who wanted a larger display for U.S. flags. They should also compromise on these types of electronic messaging signs, possibly by writing the ordinance so that messages could change only every 15 seconds, in order not to distract motorists.
Lamar's argument will be difficult to beat in court because the company claims it had a valid permit approved by a city sign inspector in November 2006 after the sign went up.
Of course, it's impossible to predict how the courts will rule. Who would have thought the U.S. flag could be categorized as a sign?
But if the city of Murfreesboro can limit the size of a flag, then make changes based on public opinion, it can find a way to meet the business world half-way on flashing signs, without allow the landscape to look like a strip of casinos.

Source: The Daily News Journal