Comments on Sign Ordinance from Jane Usher
Dear Friends and Neighbors —
Here is a thumbnail of what is transpiring on billboards. We are all awaiting a Ninth Circuit Court decision that should outline what “exceptions” to the City’s billboard ban are lawful. Even so, the City is proceeding in advance of that ruling with inexplicable speed. The next hearing before PLUM has been set for Tuesday, May 5 at 2 PM. Please stay on top of this issue as it is certain to effect all of us.
On March 26, the City Planning Commission approved an entirely new sign ordinance for the City. A brand new ordinance represents a curious legal strategy because, after years of litigation, our existing ordinance was approved in January by the Ninth Circuit, leaving open only the question of whether its “exceptions” are valid. An entirely new ordinance can expect to face the decade of billboard industry challenges that our current ordinance faced.
The CPC-approved measure continues to have many exceptions, which have been the source of our continuing litigation. Many of you attended the CPC hearings and argued for specific changes and stronger measures. The new measure is stronger than our current law on penalties, but it still falls short. It is weaker than our current laws on supergraphics and temporary and construction wall off-site signs. It adds in exceptions for Comprehensive Sign Programs and it paves the way for more than 20 Sign Districts where all forms of digital and supergraphic billboards can locate.
On April 21, the PLUM Committee considered the CPC measure. At that hearing, for the first time, Councilmember Weiss proposed 17 amendments. Nearly every one of these had been requested by the public and denied by the CPC. This history is especially troubling because Councilman Weiss ran “invitation only” prep meetings in advance of the CPC sessions. In addition, his deputy, Lisa Trifiletti, rode close herd over each CPC session from the sidelines.
Councilman Weiss did not treat all of Los Angeles equally in his 17 amendments. He asked that the proposed Sign Districts for his council area be permanently barred (except for poor Beverly Center/Cedars Sinai). He explicitly spared Westwood, Ventura Boulevard from Sherman Oaks to Encino, and Century City. These locations will remain free from the digital signs and the supergraphics that are contemplated for Sign Districts. He also spared the Ballona Wetlands (thank goodness).
Councilman Weiss offered no respite from billboards for those of you who live near such places as Van Nuys, Universal City, San Pedro, Baldwin Hills, Boyle Heights, the Miracle Mile, Koreatown, City West, LAX, Panorama City, the Howard Hughes Center, Downtown, the Beverly Center/Cedars Sinai, and Chinatown. It is apparently his view that these areas are appropriate for Sign Districts. I don’t share that view — I think NYC got it right when it reserved its Sign District for Times Square and Times Square only. In LA, this means central Hollywood and LA Live.
Please participate in this highly politicized process. We need you and your neighbors to actively engage Councilmembers other than Mr. Weiss. Speak up so that we can build the right city for our children.
Jane Ellison Usher
218 South Windsor Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
tel (323) 938-3329
fax (323) 938-319