Des Moine Council sets interval for electronic billboards

Published June 19, 2007

By Melissa Walker Register Staff writer

Des Moines City Council members went against a recommendation from the zoning commission and reduced the time lapse between images for electronic billboards in the city.Council members voted 6-0 on Monday to approve eight-second intervals between image shifts for electronic billboards. Councilman Tom Vlassis was absent from the meeting.City Manager Rick Clark recommended that the council approve an interval shorter than the 20-second interval recommended by the city's Plan and Zoning Commission.City officials began addressing the issue earlier this year after Clear Channel Outdoor put up an electronic billboard at the northeast corner of 63rd Street and Grand Avenue in Des Moines. Some city officials thought the changing images on the billboard could cause traffic accidents.Steve Wandro, an attorney for Clear Channel, argued the billboard isn't distracting because images change instantly."These aren't the kinds of signs you see in Times Square or Las Vegas or the Sunset Strip," he said.Clear Channel general manager Tim Jameson said having a 20-second interval would hurt his company because advertisements are sold in eight-second intervals.Council members delayed taking action until August on setting guidelines for where billboards can be placed until city employees work out details.Mayor Frank Cownie said he has concerns about the amount of electricity the signs use and wants the council to be able to review replacement of billboards with electronic billboards on a case-by-case basis. "I don't want one out there by Gray's Lake, I'll tell you that," he said.Jameson said Clear Channel has given the city of Des Moines the equivalent of $600,000 in free advertising since January in the form of public service ads. Other types of public safety messages such as Amber Alerts also can be seen on the electronic billboards.The company has 407 billboards in Des Moines and plans to convert a handful of them to electronic billboards, Jameson told the council.