Planning commission reviews Clear Channel proposal to consolidate billboards, keep digital-conversion rules

Kelly Schafer Miller, representing Clear Channel Outdoor, presented a proposed text amendment to Carroll County’s zoning code on Oct. 1 that would create a pathway to consolidate multiple existing off‑premises signs (billboards) on the same or adjacent properties and allow consolidated signs to seek the county’s existing digital conversion process.

The proposed change would be added to Section 158.115 of the county zoning code, which governs “use off‑the‑premises signs,” Miller told the Planning and Zoning Commission. Miller said the amendment would permit consolidation only for signs on the same parcel or immediately adjacent parcels and would not allow a consolidated sign to exceed the total square footage already on the affected property or a fixed cap of 672 square feet (a double‑sided 14‑by‑48 panel). The proposal also sets a maximum height of 50 feet and would prevent a property that used the consolidation allowance from adding additional off‑premises signs, Miller said.

Why it matters: proponents said consolidation could reduce the number of billboards along county corridors while preserving the county’s existing controls on height, size and illumination, and it would allow consolidated signs that meet zoning conditions to apply for digital conversion under the same administrative process already used for conversions.

Miller told the commission the county created a registry of nonconforming billboards after the 2003 code changes; many billboards predate those…