A bill before the Oregon legislature has some environmental groups up in arms. And what makes this unusual was that it originated from a plan to reduce billboards in scenic areas.
Under the bill, outdoor companies would receive two billboard permits for every one sign removed from a designated “scenic area”. The environmental groups are against this measure, since it would allow even more new billboards to be built in the state.
Oregon has long been known for having some of the most restrictive sign ordinances in the U.S., but those were set aside in a 2006 ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court that felt the current ordinances violated free-speech protections. Over 200 new billboards have been built since that 2006 ruling.
The proposed bill would “encourage voluntary removal of outdoor advertising signs from particularly scenic areas of scenic byways”. The Department of Transportation is to create a set of standards to determine what these “scenic areas” may be.
Of course, any sane individual would have to question why a billboard company would voluntarily remove an existing billboard without some type of benefit. Apparently, the environmental groups have a poor grasp on the realities of business and economics. Although Oregon is an attractive state, it has commercial areas just like the rest of the nation, so clearly building two signs in a commercial area, of little aesthetic importance, and removal of a billboard in a scenic area would be to the environmental groups’ best interests. But apparently there is no way to please everyone on this issue.
Tags: billboard laws, oregon billboards
