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Wheat Ridge Council Opens Debate on Allowing Digital Billboards, City‑owned Electronic Signs
Summary
City staff and advertising companies briefed City Council on options to amend sign code to permit digital billboards and to create a new category for signs on city‑owned property; councilors raised concerns about visual impacts, content control and procurement for public‑private partnerships.
Wheat Ridge City Council members on Monday moved to study possible changes to the city’s sign code that would allow some digital billboards and create a consistent category for electronic signs on city‑owned property. The discussion followed public comment from an outdoor‑advertising representative and presentations from city planning staff and representatives of Lamar Advertising.
The item matters because the council would need to amend city code if it wants to allow digital billboards that are currently prohibited, decide whether to permit digital signs on city property, and determine whether to pursue public‑private partnerships to install and operate such signs.
OutFront Media representative Steve Shin urged council consideration of digital billboards and recommended following the public procurement process if the city allows advertising on city property. “If you decide to move forward with this, with allowing digital billboards on public or private property, we would be very interested in this opportunity,” Shin said. He identified his company as OutFront Media and said the firm operates billboards on the I‑70 corridor.
City planning staff explained the regulatory steps needed to change the prohibition. Lauren, a city staff member in planning, told the council the code would need an express allowance for digital billboards plus standards on number, spacing, and message timing. She said state Department of Transportation (CDOT) regulations apply to highway billboards and that following CDOT spacing could allow up to seven digital displays, though the city could set a lower limit. Staff also recommended reinstating a review process for billboard vacancies; historically the city used a lottery rather than first‑come, first‑served.
Todd Messenger, attorney for Lamar Advertising, and Lamar staff described technical and operational aspects of digital billboards and public‑private partnership models. Messenger said modern digital billboards can reduce glare, dim automatically, and carry emergency messages, and he recommended first‑come, first‑served spacing because it is simple to verify. “They can be shielded to remove glare from certain locations,” Messenger said. Dave Cecil of Lamar said the company would place displays where the city wanted them and described industry standards for display size and dwell time.
Council members expressed mixed views. Councilor Holten said she is not supportive of electronic advertising in the city right now but favored a city‑owned message board for official communications. “I’m not supportive of the electronic advertising,” she said. Mayor Pro Tem Stites asked whether the city could restrict categories of businesses on city signs; staff replied the city has more ability to limit content on city‑owned property by creating a limited (nonpublic) forum, pointing to RTD’s ad standards as an example.
Several councilors said they favored exploring a city‑owned sign category and the public‑private partnership concept for specific locations, while also asking for stricter limits than the state or industry might provide. Councilor Weaver said digital billboards should be limited in number and suggested distributing any new digital highway signs across council districts. Councilor Weber said the council cannot impose content restrictions on private billboards but could ask industry partners to volunteer public‑service messaging as part of a contract for city‑owned signs.
Staff and industry answered technical questions about sizes and spacing. Lamar representatives said interstate billboards typically are about 14 by 48 feet, while local “poster” sizes are roughly 10 by 22 feet or as small as 8 by 16 feet. Lamar said it uses ambient light sensors and “dwell time” standards (Lamar stated 8‑second dwell time as its practice; CDOT code includes a 4‑second figure) to reduce glare and message flicker.
Council members reached consensus to return the topic to a future study session with more detailed options on (1) whether to allow digital billboards, (2) whether to create a distinct “city‑owned signs” code category with consistent size and height rules for public property, and (3) whether to explore public‑private partnership models for outfitting and operating signs on city property. Staff said it will bring a slate of options that show what CDOT and other jurisdictions require and what would be recommended for Wheat Ridge.
The council emphasized that any change would require careful attention to aesthetics, content controls for city property, procurement processes, and legal limits on regulating private billboard content. The discussion closed as the meeting moved to the next agenda item: the 2025 legislative agenda.
Looking ahead, staff will return with draft code language and procurement options, and the council indicated it wants the sign changes considered in the broader context of a larger sign‑code update.
