Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Signs And Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Montgomery City staff to return with proposals to update billboard rules after rise in electronic signs
Summary
Land use staff told the Montgomery City Council they will return with proposed updates to the city's billboard regulations, saying the current ordinance is old and provides limited enforcement against electronic billboards.
Land use staff told the Montgomery City Council that they will return to propose updated regulations for billboards, including electronic signs, saying the city's current ordinance is outdated and offers limited enforcement.
The proposal stems from an internal review by the land use department that found a significant increase in billboards across Montgomery City and emerging challenges from new electronic displays. "If you ride around the city of Montgomery, you can see that we're pregnant with billboards," a land use department staff member told the council, adding the current ordinance "doesn't give us a lot of teeth for those." The staff member said the last relevant ordinance was adopted in "02/1" and described it as roughly 24 to 25 years old in the meeting record.
Why this matters: zoning and sign regulations affect visual character, roadway distractions and property owners' rights; electronic billboards raise distinct enforcement and content-timing issues that older sign codes did not anticipate.
Council members asked whether major outdoor advertisers had been consulted. A councilmember asked, "As Lamar advertising, did they spoke up on any of these changes or anything?" The land use staff member said there have been no discussions with Lamar Advertising at this point and that staff will return with more details and proposed language.
No formal ordinance or vote was taken at the meeting. Council members referenced Mr. Tate of the Planning Commission during the exchange; the staff member said they would work with land use staff and the Planning Commission and return to council with proposed regulatory changes. The meeting record did not specify a timeline, proposed code language, or whether the proposals would include restrictions, permitting changes, spacing rules, digital-content limits, or permitting fees.
The council did not take formal action on the item during the session; staff are expected to present drafted amendments for council consideration at a later meeting, according to the statements on the record.
The city has not yet published draft language or an outreach schedule; those details were not specified in the meeting record.
