San Jose Officials Ease Ban On New Digital Billboards; Displays Must Be Turned Off Overnight
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A pair of new digital billboards are set to be erected in San Jose on airport property along Highway 101 and 87, marking an end to a ban on new billboards in the city dating back to the 1980s.
On Tuesday evening, the city council voted 9-2 to approve terms of a contract with Clear Channel. As part of the agreement, the two billboards will be located on the northern boundary of the airport, on the south side of 101, near the Economy Lot 1 parking garage.
The billboards will be 1,000 square feet each, and must be turned off from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. A 10% portion of the ad revenue will go to the airport, estimated to be up to $900,000 per year.
Clear Channel must also plant 215 new trees to make up for the loss of 43 that will be cut down in the project. And, the company must tear down 12 billboards in low-income neighborhoods.
Mayor Sam Liccardo called it a "win-win."
"It is a greater benefit to our public to see more billboards down than up," said Liccardo during the Tuesday council session. "It's straightforward math,"
According to the mayor, each owner's constitutionally protected property rights means any effort to buy out, and subsequently tear down, billboards in residential neighborhoods would cost tens of millions of dollars.
"None of us like billboards," said Liccardo in an interview with KPIX. "The city doesn't have any tool to actually reduce the number of billboards within the city limits. Legally we are prevented from doing that."
"And so we have to negotiate our way out of this mess that was created decades ago with this proliferation of billboards. And this is the best way forward, being able to tear down six billboards for every digital sign that goes up in downtown or at the airport. That's a great benefit to our neighborhoods," said Liccardo.
The 12 billboards that will be dismantled have not yet been identified.
Leslie Levitt, with No Digital Billboards San Jose (NDBSJ), a grassroots advocacy group, criticized the city for the delay.
"But the reality is that even after years, there are no specifics," Levitt said. "It was on the day of the last City Council meeting with billboards on the agenda that Clear Channel said they'd take down some billboards. Where? Not known. Who decides? Clear Channel. Never mind that Clear Channel, the City, and any Council member had 18 months to map that out."
Councilmember Raul Peralez and Matt Mahan both voted no. Peralez had pushed for more bids on the project. Mahan opposed the billboards on "philosophical" grounds.
"I was actually the only member of the Council who voted no on billboards just on the merits," said Mahan. "Overall, I reject the notion that the right path forward is to enable new electronic billboards that are 1,000 square feet."
"These are massive billboards, and I worry that it's the wrong direction for the city. And that over time, we're going to see more and more proposals for these large billboards. I just don't think adding new electronic billboards along our freeways is the direction we want to go in as a city."
NDBSJ shared Mahan's sentiment about a possible rush of new digital billboards.
"Yesterday the Council opened the flood gate (sic) to turn San Jose into Anyplace USA. They are likely to be burdened with ongoing billboard related issues as more billboards come up for consideration. That will no doubt divert resources and time from important issues like housing, homelessness, and city services," said Levitt. "Billboard companies are already threatening to sue the City and each other over these billboards. This risk of endless litigation does not appear to be factored into the cost/benefit here."
