Twin Cities / Billboard Company Loses Court Round: Cities Wary of Ever-Changing Ads
By Meggen Lindsay, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Jan. 31–A western Twin Cities suburb won the first round Tuesday in a legal battle brewing over digital billboards that change images nearly constantly.
Minnetonka cut the power for two LED (light-emitting diode) freeway signs this month and owner Clear Channel Outdoors promptly sued, seeking an injunction to force the city to plug the signs back in.
A judge denied that request Tuesday, but the lawsuit will continue — and so will debate in the Twin Cities over the electronic signs that some say pose a dangerous distraction for drivers.
Clear Channel installed eight billboards along highways in six metro area cities in November. The signs have been up and running since December. The images change every eight seconds, said Tom McCarver, vice president of real estate and public affairs for the company’s Minneapolis division.
“It is kind of the wave of the future, if you’d like,” McCarver said. “The Twin Cities is one of six markets we’re in, and I expect the technology to roll out in many more markets in 2007.”
Although Minnetonka so far is the only city in court, others are closely monitoring the case and pondering action of their own.
Eagan and St. Paul have banned any new signs from coming in until they study the impact of the technology and determine whether they need to change the rules that govern the advertisements. And in Arden Hills, officials issued a cease-and-desist order against the electronic billboard located there, although Clear Channel admits it is not adhering to the city’s request.
“As of right now, it seems to me the biggest hazard caused by the current sign is elected officials and city staff driving by and trying figure out what they think about it,” Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire joked about an Interstate 494 billboard at a recent City Council meeting.
Other cities are, like Lakeville, bracing for the new technology even though LED billboards haven’t entered their borders. That city’s planning commission is expected to recommend banning the electronic billboards next month for most businesses.
“Because this is fairly new technology, at least for us in Minnesota, cities are trying to figure out how, if at all, they should respond to it,” said Tom Grundhoefer, general counsel for the League of Minnesota Cities.
In the Minnetonka dispute, Clear Channel accused the city of pre-empting state law by blocking the signs. But the city claims its authority is clear under local ordinance and accused the company of misleading officials on its permit applications.
“We made every permit application necessary,” McCarver countered. “We had operated and intend to continue to operate fully within state and local guidelines.”
Other cities also remain irked that Clear Channel didn’t specifically tell them about the new technology until the billboards were up and running.
Maplewood City Manager Greg Copeland said the company was less than forthcoming about the sign in his city. However, he said, the benefits of the technology outweighed the initial lack of information.
“Was it put in the way I would have liked it? No. But does the technology have obvious value in the market place? Yes,” Copeland said. “And these things can’t distract more than cell phones and children in cars.
“If it makes people feel good to do a moratorium, fine. But this is not going away. Technology has never been stopped cold by a study.”
Meggen Lindsay can be reached at mlindsay@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5260.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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