Digital Billboards Coming to a Freeway or Street Near You?

Last year, the City of Houston put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) “to install double sided message display signs to be located at sites within city limits in the city right of way or on city property […] limited to interstate freeways, major thoroughfares, and connectors.” These signs would be billboard-size LED displays, with contents changing every eight seconds.

The City received proposals late last year and is reportedly working out a contract with a vendor. We don’t know when a contract will come before City Council, but we understand that could happen soon. Council would also need to amend the Sign Code to allow these billboards to be built.

If you want to weigh in on the subject, contact Mayor Sylvester Turner and members of City Council. The HHA service area lies within District C; our District Council Member is Abbie Kamin. Nearby District H, east of Studewood, is represented by Karla Cisneros. There are also five At-Large Council Members, who deal with issues all over the City. See below for contact information for the City.

The HHA Land Use Committee is on record opposing the idea of adding digital billboards to our streets and freeways. Please feel free to copy us at LandUse@HoustonHeights.org on any email for or against the proposal.

The Debate

Proponents point out that the RFP calls for the removal of three existing billboard structures for every new digital billboard, gives the City right of approval on locations, prohibits locations within designated Scenic Districts, disallows motion or flashing between eight-second static displays, allows the City use of the signs during designated emergencies and 10% of the rest of the time, and calls for an initial payment of at least $10 million, plus annual fees of $2 million or 40% of revenues. (These terms may have changed during contract negotiations.)

There is some precedent for allowing this change. Earlier this year, Council signed a contract to allow smaller interactive digital kiosks to be installed on city sidewalks in areas of Houston with high pedestrian activity such as downtown and the Galleria. That also involved changing the Sign Code.

Opponents point out that the money involved would be a tiny fraction of a percent of the City budget, that some of the signs to be removed have already been warehoused or relocated pursuant to Section 4617 of the Sign Code, and that other cities have insisted on better deals and often did not realize the benefits they expected.

These digital billboards are against the current Sign Code of the City, which would have to be amended to allow them. Opponents worry that doing so would allow other billboard companies to put up similar signs in other locations, not controlled by the contract, without corresponding remuneration to the City.

One of the organizations most vocally in opposition to the proposal is Scenic Houston, which was instrumental in leading the fight to create ordinances that have banned new billboards in Houston since 1980, banned attention-getting devices and LED billboard conversion since 2008, and got 66 billboards taken down in the last decade. They say, “Because of Scenic Houston’s advocacy efforts, Houston’s billboard inventory has been reduced from over 13,000 in the 1980s to only 1,309 today.” They oppose the proposal because it will erase 40 years of progress, open the floodgates to hundreds of copycats, negatively impact home values, cause light pollution, distract drivers, and drive up energy use by billboards. They say more billboards are bad for Houston’s image, bad for Houston’s economy, and set back progress made to improve Houston’s image and quality of life.

The City’s 2020 Major Thoroughfare & Freeway Map plan & legend (Heights area)

For reference, in the HHA service area this could apply to freeways I-10 and I-610; major thoroughfares Durham, Shepherd, Yale, Heights south of I-10, N. Main, Studewood/Studemont, 20th, and 11th; major collector White Oak/6th; and minor collectors 24th, 19th, and 14th. It would not apply to Heights Boulevard north of I-10 because it is a Scenic District.