Ban Billboard Blight Protecting the visual environment of Los Angeles

World Wide Rush supergraphic on Wilshire Blvd. ( Photo from June 23, 2010)

Apparently undaunted by a federal appellate court decision upholding the city’s right to ban new off-site and supergraphic signs, attorneys for sign companies have signaled their intention to mount fresh challenges to the ban that has been the subject of almost constant litigation since its original passage eight years ago.

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Posted under Billboards, Michael McNeilly, Outdoor Advertising, Skytag, Supergraphic Signs, Vanguard Outdoor, World Wide Rush

View of supergraphic sign on Metropolitan Hotel apartment project above Hollywood freeway. Sign simulation by Skytag, Inc.

L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti’s proposal to ban new supergraphic signs in the Hollywood sign district would exempt a total of 31,000 sq. ft. of the signage that has won some form of city approval, but hasn’t been issued permits by the city building department.  Included is a 5,700 sq. ft. sign that would cover many of the windows on a 12-story apartment building clearly visible from the nearby Hollywood freeway.

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Posted under Billboards, CRA, City Planning Commission, L.A. City Government, L.A. Live, Outdoor Advertising, Skytag, Supergraphic Signs, Trutanich

L.A. Outdoor Advertising Billboard on 110 Freeway

Four full-sized billboards that appeared without warning the past three years on the north side of the 110 freeway may be in definite jeopardy, due to a U.S. District Court judge’s ruling today upholding the city’s claim that the billboards are illegal and need to be removed.  See  New Billboards Go Up Alongside Downtown Freeway

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Posted under Billboards, Outdoor Advertising

New signs like these on Sunset & Vine tower would be banned under Garcetti proposal

Multi-story supergraphic signs advertising everything from movies to liquor to women’s clothing have proliferated throughout Hollywood in the past half dozen years, but L.A. City Council president Eric Garcetti is now calling for a ban on the approval of any more of the signs in the Hollywood Sign district.  In a motion to be voted on by the City Council this coming Tuesday,  Garcetti cited “community concern” and “ongoing legal questions about the appropriateness of supergraphic signs…”

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Posted under Billboards, City Planning Commission, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, L.A. City Government, Outdoor Advertising, Supergraphic Signs

From time to time, someone will take offense at our activities on the grounds that advocating for protection of the visual environment from an onslaught of commercial advertising is a trivial cause compared to fighting poverty, or global warming, or gang warfare, or any number of other social and environmental ills.   In other words, “Can’t you find something more important to be bothered about?”

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Posted under Outdoor Advertising

Think about it for a second… Thousands of beach goers relaxing at the beach, looking towards the ocean. Just offshore, a Billboard Boat slowly passes by with your name on it… Your message will be read, and it will be remembered.—www.coastalad.com

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Posted under Outdoor Advertising

The following is a response by Stuart Magruder to a March 26 article in the L.A. Times titled “L.A.’s Great Signage Debate” by architectural critic Christopher Hawthorne.  Magruder is a principal of the L.A. architectural firm  Studio Nova A Architects, Inc., and a member of the board of directors of the L.A. chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

How disappointing it was to read Christopher Hawthorne’s misguided appreciation of supergraphic billboard advertising.  From the start, the article is on shaky ground as he spends the first two paragraphs decrying the public’s vocal disgust with the unbridled spread of billboards. This from the paper’s architecture critic?  Someone whose job it is to make the public pay attention to the built environment?

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Posted under Billboards, Digital Billboards, L.A. City Government, Outdoor Advertising, Supergraphics

DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 3
TIME:  7:00 PM
WHERE: Wilshire Presbyterian Church
300 S. Western Avenue Los Angeles, California 90020
Southwest corner of 3rd & Western Ave.
PARKING: In the Lot AT 3RD & OXFORD
(Be sure not to park behind cars and block others)
For further question contact Nikki Ezhari at (213) 485-3337

Posted under Outdoor Advertising

WHAT:  Joint meeting of Arts, Parks, Health, and Aging Committee and Planning and Land Use Management Committee

WHEN:  Wednesday, Nov. 19, 3 p.m.

WHERE:  Room 1010, City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.

Agenda and City Planning Department Report.

Posted under Outdoor Advertising

When:  Wed., Nov. 12, 7-9 p.m

Where:  AIA Los Angeles
3780 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA  90010

Panelists:
Kevin E. Fry – President, Scenic America
Dennis Hathaway – President, The Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight
Con Howe – Managing Director of The CityView Los Angeles Fund and Former Director of Planning of the City of Los Angeles
Craig Lawson – President, Craig Lawson & Co., LLC
Jeff McConnell – Vice President, Arnie Berghoff & Associates

Moderator:  John Kaliski, AIA – Principal, URBAN STUDIO

The public is invited, but space is limited, so anyone wanting to attend should RSVP to will@aialosangeles.org

Posted under Outdoor Advertising