Council approves Lamar Advertising request to relocate and digitize billboard on Government Way after variance finding

The Coeur d'Alene City Council on Feb. 4 approved Lamar Advertising’s request to relocate an existing billboard from Northwest Boulevard to a site along Government Way and to convert it to a two-faced digital display, granting variances for height and minimum distance from residential zoning.

Lamar representatives told the council the relocation would put a billboard in a commercial corridor with higher traffic counts and allow the company to remove billboards from Northwest Boulevard. Neil Schreibis and Dwayne Halliday of Lamar argued that site constraints—power lines, intersection setbacks and available C‑17 zoning parcels—limited viable locations and justified variances. "We are not adding any additional billboards to the city," Schreibis said; "we are not increasing the size or the square footage of the faces of the billboard." They proposed a V-shaped sign to direct faces toward commercial uses and away from nearby residences.

Public comment included objections from local resident and planner Jeff Conaway, who said digital signs are an “eyesore” and noted the proposed face size (300 square feet) is larger than typical business signage in the area. Council members also asked planning and legal staff about conflicting code language in two subsections that address allowable height and building-related exceptions.

Council findings: The council determined that Lamar had demonstrated undue hardship based on site characteristics for both the 500‑foot residential-zone spacing requirement and the height restriction tied to the existing sign, and that granting the variances was not contrary to the public interest or the sign-code purposes. Council then voted 5–2 (Evans and Miller opposed) to approve the relocation, conversion to an electronic message display, and the variances. The approved sign will be approximately 37 feet tall; staff noted the site is adjacent to a 30‑foot building and that trees and intervening structures will limit visibility from the nearby residential parcels.

Why it matters: The decision lets Lamar remove a short, legacy billboard from Northwest Boulevard and install a modern digital display along Government Way; it also sets a precedent for future relocation applications and underscores unresolved tensions over billboard regulation, visibility and community character.

Ending: Planning staff noted the applicant must meet construction, lighting and safety standards in code and the project will be subject to inspection and illumination controls designed to limit nighttime glare.