L.A. councilman calls for digital signs on city property

A San Fernando Valley politician called Thursday for digital billboards to be permitted on some city-owned properties, saying the resulting advertising revenue could be used to pay both for basic services and for initiatives to help the homeless.

In a letter to the city’s Planning Commission, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian said he wants to keep new electronic signs from going up outside of designated “sign districts,” which are typically found in commercial areas such as Hollywood or downtown. But he also argued that the commission should carve out an exception that would allow digital billboards on “selected” city-owned properties.

Such a move, Krekorian wrote, would give neighborhoods more control over how digital signs are approved while generating tens of millions of dollars for the city.

“These funds could be used for improving neighborhood services, like street resurfacing, sidewalk repair, tree trimming and public safety, and dealing with our homeless crisis,” he wrote.

Krekorian is not the only politician to push this week for new uses of city facilities to help the homeless. On Tuesday, Councilman Gil Cedillo said city parking lots should be opened as places to park overnight for people who live in their RVs and other vehicles.

Cedillo suggested that city swimming pools’ locker rooms could be set up, under certain conditions, as official places for homeless residents to shower.

Krekorian’s letter was issued as the Planning Commission, made up of appointees of Mayor Eric Garcetti, began deliberations on a new package of billboard regulations. Billboard companies have been pushing for electronic signs to be allowed outside of sign districts, both on public and private property. Business and trade groups also favor such changes, saying the advertising industry supports thousands of jobs.

Neighborhood activists have repeatedly argued against allowing digital billboards outside sign districts.

Dennis Hathaway, president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight, said L.A. leaders should not be so desperate for money that they succumb to the demand for brightly flashing signs, which can change images as often as every eight seconds. “The city should not sell off its visual environment for revenue,” he said.

Dozens of digital billboards went up nearly a decade ago, many of them on the Westside. After both a legal challenge and a neighborhood outcry, the vast majority were turned off.

Under Krekorian’s proposal, more than four square feet of billboard space would need to be removed in order to secure permission for one square foot of digital sign on a piece of city property. However, a sign company that does not have any signs nearby could seek to provide other “community benefits” instead, he said.

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