[RP TownTalk] Fwd: IHHAAC information Alert: Report of PZED Consideration of Digital/LED Billboard Bill

[Sarah Wayland]

A report on the legislation to allow conversion of existing billboards lit
by floodlight to LEDs is below.

Executive Summary: The lawyers and other officials were assigned
responsibility to get answers and to report back to the PZED Committee as
soon as possible but not later than Tuesday, September 30, the last day in
the current legislative session by which ‘expedited’ bills may be
considered before the break for the General Election and the seating of the
new County Council in December 2014.

-Sarah

.........................................................................................................................
Sarah Wayland, Ph.D. | www.GuidingExceptionalParents.com
<http://www.guidingexceptionalparents.com/>
Supporting students with learning differences and their families



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: IHHAAC Board <ihhaac.board at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 24, 2014 at 11:54 PM
Subject: IHHAAC information Alert: Report of PZED Consideration of
Digital/LED Billboard Bill
To: IHHAAC Board <ihhaac.board at gmail.com>



*FOR IHHAAC MEMBERS & FRIENDS*

*Report on PZED Committee Meeting re Digital/LED Billboards*



On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, the Planning, Zoning & Economic Development
(PZED) Committee of the Prince George’s County Council considered Draft 2B
(third draft) of CB-73-2014, whether existing billboards should be allowed
to be converted to digital/LED (a policy issue) and, if so, what
could/would/should be the rules/criteria, the process, the fees and the
circumstances, including whether and to what extent the County has the
legal authority to put a program in place.



Billboards have been illegal in the County since 1993 and are supposed to
be phased out as a blight on the landscape. Billboards also have been
declared illegal in almost every jurisdiction in the United States and are
supposed to be phased out. Those remaining are ’grandfathered’ under
existing laws, just as they are in Prince George’s County, but no new ones
may be built.



Clear Channel Communications representatives reported that their firm owns
“192 structures” in the County supporting about 300 billboards, some of
which are double-faced, front and rear. The only other billboards in the
county are a handful of Mom/Pop operations. Hence, Clear Channel represents
about 99% of the outdoor/billboard advertising business in the county.



The wide-ranging discussion included: imposition of a requirement for an
owner to apply to the Zoning Hearing Examiner (ZHE) for a special exception
to allow conversion of a billboard to digital/LED; criteria which ZHE
could/would/should consider; number of billboards which Clear Channel
envisions initially converting to digital/LED (unclear, but at least 10);
permissible advertising content (no alcohol, tobacco, firearms, adult
content, etc.); permissible distance of LED billboards from schools,
churches and residences; the definition of ‘static’ advertising (the copy
would change every 10 seconds); whether non-conforming billboards (i.e.,
all of them) must be required to be permitted and fees paid before an
application for a special exception for a digital/LED conversion would be
accepted and considered; the amount of the permitting fee per billboard,
whether traditional or digital/LED; whether there should be a sliding scale
of fees based on the size of the billboard; whether billboards on state
roads would have to be treated differently than those located on county
roads; and availability of digital/LED billboards for public service
announcements.



There were so many issues and unanswered questions that it became clear
that Draft 2B was wholly inadequate and that a fourth draft would have to
be prepared. The lawyers and other officials were assigned responsibility
to get answers and to report back to the PZED Committee as soon as possible
but not later than Tuesday, September 30, the last day in the current
legislative session by which ‘expedited’ bills may be considered before the
break for the General Election and the seating of the new County Council in
December 2014.



The sponsor of the legislation, CM Andrea Harrison, emphasized that it was
important to get the language and provisions of the bill done properly the
first time. It was left an open question whether that was achievable in
seven days, given the multitude of policy and process issues to be resolved
and the press of other business on the County Council. IHHAAC will keep you
apprised of developments.
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