WE ASK THAT YOU SPREAD THE WORD AND CALL YOUR COUNCILMEMBER BEFORE FRIDAY’s CITY COUNCIL HEARING…..

View this email in your browserACTION NEEDED: Community pressure delays City Council vote on digital billboards to Friday, December 15, 2023There’s still time to contact YOUR City Councilmember to tell him/her to vote NO!(See below for Council contact info)At the December 8, 2023 City Council hearing, Metro’s digital billboard Program did not receive enough votes to pass thanks to the NO votes cast by Councilmembers Raman (CD 4), Park (CD 11), and Yaroslavsky (CD 5). Council President Paul Krekorian scheduled reconsideration for the Friday, December 15, City Council hearing when he believes he can get the 12 votes needed to adopt the Program.   CALL AND/OR WRITE your Councilmember to let them know you oppose Metro’s digital billboard Program and request that they OPPOSE it at Friday’s hearing. If you send an email message, copy and enter it into LA City Council File 22-0392 comment page and cc to: losangelesbeautiful@gmail.com Additional points to raise: We join the Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles along with 28 Neighborhood and Community Councils, 24 environmental and community organizations and thousands of Angelenos in opposition to Metro’s proposal to install digital billboards along many of the City’s busiest freeways and commercial corridors for the following reasons: PLUM amended the Program to reduce takedown of existing billboards from 125 to 50 prior to installation of new digital billboards. This is in contrast to the billboard industry’s 2002 offer to remove 2,500 static billboards in exchange for 50 freeway facing digital billboard structures; PLUM amended the Program to allow takedowns of poster board sized signs (200 square feet) instead of takedowns of actual billboards; PLUM amended the Program to increase hours of operation for freeway-facing signs to operate nearly 24-hours per day from 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.; PLUM opened the door to extending the digital billboard Program to a 30-year contract instead of the recommended 20-year term; Eight of 12 non-freeway facing digital billboards are planned for installation on the City’s High Injury Network streets; Digital billboards are planned for parcels identified for housing, within 500 feet of open space and residential uses, and impacting historic resources; There has been no cost/benefit analysis and when asked Metro hasn’t responded sufficiently; The City has not included any conditions giving City Council the authority to impose additional corrective measures if the digital billboard impacts can’t be mitigated as described in the Program, e.g., are proven to increase accidents, light glare, block visibility, etc. Further, there are no provisions to update to new technologies as they become available over the life of this decades-long Program; The LA Times criticized the City in a Dec. 6 Editorial, letters to the Editor in response on Dec. 10, and in an earlier February, 2023 opinion piece. —————————————————————————————- Contact your City Councilmember nowTo find your City Councilmember, enter your address here.If you wish to contact additional Councilmembers, go for it!  “JUST VOTE NO ON METRO TCN PROGRAM:”————————————————————————————————————-CD 1:  Eunisses Hernandez            213  473-7001            councilmember.hernandez@lacity.org Helen.campbell@lacity.org –  Planning DeputyCD 2:  Paul Krekorian                      213  473-7002             councilmember.Krekorian@lacity.org Karo.torossian@lacity.org –  Chief of StaffCD 3:  Bob Blumenfield                    213  473-7003             councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org Jeff.jacobberger@lacity.org – Legislative Director CD 4:  Nithya Raman                        213  473-7004            contactCD4@lacity.org mashael.majid@lacity.org  –  Deputy Chief of Staff CD 5: Katy Yaroslavsky                     213  473-7005            councilmember.yaroslavsky@lacity.orgDylan.sittig@lacity.org –  Planning Deputy CD 6:  Imelda Padilla                         213  473-7006            Councilmember.padilla@lacity.org   CD 7:  Monica Rodriguez                   213  473-7007            Councilmember.rodriguez@lacity.org  Paola.bassignana@lacity.org – Planning Deputy CD 8:  Marqueece Harris-Dawson     213  473-7008            Councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org  Joanne.kim@lacity.org –  Chief of Staff CD 9:  Curren D. Price, Jr.                  213  473-7009            Councilmember.price@lacity.org  Bryce.rosauro@lacity.org – Special Assistant CD 10:  Heather Hutt                           213  473-7010           heather.hutt@lacity.org  Andrew.westall@lacity.org – Chief DeputyCD 11:  Traci Park                                213  473-7011           Councilmember.park@lacity.org  Sean.silva@lacity.org – Field Deputy   CD 12:  John Lee                                 213  473-7012           Councilmember.lee@lacity.org Erich.king@lacity.org –  Legislative DirectorCD 13:  Hugo Soto-Martinez                213  473-7013           Councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org Emma.howard@lacity.org – Planning DeputyCD 14:  Kevin De Leon                         213  473-7014           Councilmember.kevindeleon@lacity.org Gerald.gubatan@lacity.org – Senior Policy AdvisorCD 15:  Tim McOsker                           213  473-7015             Councilmember.mcosker@lacity.org Pamela.thornton@lacity.org Planning Deputy Anissa.raja@lacity.org – Legislative Director————————————————-———-Mayor Karen Bass                                213  978-0600            Mayor.helpdesk@lacity.org Randall.winston@lacity.org – Deputy Mayor InfrastructureWilliam.lanborn@lacity.org – Planning Policy and Development Director_____________________Post your written comment to the City Council File 22-0392 comment page.cc: losangelesbeautiful@gmail.com —————————————————————————————————-Join us in speaking out to protect the environment and our public safety, AND help spread the word! Following the Metro Board’s approval of the Transportation Communication Network digital billboard Program in January 2023, Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles filed a lawsuit challenging the environmental approval and Metro’s role as lead agency. To help support our cause, please DONATE through our 501(c)(3) non-profit partner. Note “Billboard Blight” in the donation memo line. If City Council moves forward to approve Metro’s TCN Program, the Coalition will file a lawsuit challenging the City’s approval of the Program DONATEContact us at:  losangelesbeautiful@gmail.com We have been the guardians of LA’s visual environment since 1986. Formerly known as Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight Copyright (C) 2023 The Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: The Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles PO Box 49583 200 S Barrington Ave Los Angeles, CA 90049-0583 USA Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe============================================================================

FOR THOSE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE METRO DIGITAL BILLBOARD PROGRAM, HERE IS SOME INFO IN ADDITION TO THE LA TIMES PIECES NOTED IN THE EMAIL BLAST ABOVE:
https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/27589-council-presidents-legacy-blight-the-city-with-digital-billboards

Following the article on the same webpage is a 5-minute interview with the author, David Zahniser that goes into additional detail about the proposed Metro TCN program. 

Our earlier email blast alert points raised:

I strongly oppose the Metro TCN digital billboard advertising Program because of the impacts to housing, safety, historic-cultural, scenic, coastal, environmental and sensitive use resources. I ask the City Council to send the Metro TCN Program Ordinances back to the City Planning Commission for reconsideration per City Charter Sections 555 and 558, following substantive changes adopted by several motions introduced by Council Districts 1, 2, 5, 12, and 13. These changes include:

• PLUM restored freeway facing billboard FF-3 that was removed by CPC out of concern for saturation and public safety;
• PLUM reduced the CPC recommended distance of 2,640 feet to 1,500 feet between billboards on the same side of the freeway. This will set a negative precedent for all future signs, especially in the downtown area;
• PLUM expanded the hours of operation for freeway facing signs;
• PLUM reduced the number of existing static billboards to be removed prior to installation of new digital billboards from 125 to 50 initial removals + 4 signs after that (these numbers don’t add up to the required 200 sign removals);
• PLUM lowered the minimum takedown square footage per sign from 300 square feet (minimum billboard size) to 200 square feet (poster board size);
• PLUM opened the door to extend the digital billboard program to a 30-year contract instead of the CPC recommended 20-year contact.

I agree with Coalition for a Beautiful Los Angeles that the placement of offsite commercial advertising on Metro-owned and controlled property in partnership with the City subjects users of public spaces to unwanted sales pitches for goods and services and is antithetical to the idea that citizens should have public spaces/visual environment free of crass commercialization.

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There are still billboard locations included that have been identified in the Metro’s Joint Development Program as suitable for HOUSING!

Citizen pressure resulted in the removal of the digital billboards adjacent to Ballona Wetlands Reserve, but a structure is still adjacent to the Sepulveda Basin Reserve and many are in close proximity to PARKS.

There are still signs adjacent to or in near proximity to DESIGNATED HISTORIC RESOURCES:  Designated Historic Resources:  

FF-1 (CD14/de Leon) Union Station

FF-6 (CD1/ Hernandez) Riverside-Figueroa Bridge

FF-1 (CD14/de Leon) Olympic Street Bridge

NFF-6 (CD14/de Leon) Angels Flight Railway (across from) and Grand Central Market

And, finally, there are many signs located on the CITY’s HIGH INJURY NETWORK STREETS!  This, despite Vision Zero goals to reduce injuries and deaths on our streets.

The City has no authority to act to correct any issues that may arise under the program as Metro is the lead agency and the City has given  up all its powers to Metro in exchange for a share of ad revenues — with unknown negative impacts to come and no City tools to address them.