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Board allows two replacement billboards after city negotiates placement to avoid Main Street site
Summary
Cedar City approved two variances allowing replacement billboards under state relocation law after negotiating a city-owned site for one sign to avoid adding another billboard on Main Street and limit legal exposure under conflicting state and city rules.
The Cedar City Board of Adjustments approved two variances that allow replacement billboards at locations near Nichols Canyon Road and north of Canyon View High School, following a negotiated site arrangement that steered one sign away from Main Street.
City attorneys and planning staff said the state statute grants a billboard company a limited statutory right to relocate existing billboards within one mile of their prior location and typically within commercial or industrial zones. City code has a more restrictive requirement that billboards be spaced at least 1,000 feet apart along certain corridors. Staff warned the board that if the city were to litigate a relocation under the state's relocation right the city's stricter spacing rule could be found preempted and the ordinance struck, which could allow more billboards to be installed while the legal process plays out.
To avoid that outcome, the city negotiated with the billboard operator (Yesco) to place one replacement sign on a city-owned triangular detention parcel rather than the operator's initial first-choice Main Street location. The company agreed to the alternative, and engineering and public-works staff reviewed sightlines and detention-basin impacts. With those accommodations, the board approved the two variances by voice vote.
Staff said the city will take a separate interlocal contract to the City Council for the city-owned parcel that will host the sign; the contract will include clauses protecting the detention basin and any required tree removal or sightline mitigation.
Ending: The board's approval resolves the pending relocation requests for the two sites, subject to the city's contract to host one sign and the operator's agreement to mitigation requirements.
