Planning commission approves 90‑foot digital billboard adjacent to I‑405

The Westminster Planning Commission voted 3–1 on Jan. 21 to approve Case No. 2025‑0232, granting a conditional use permit to construct a 90‑foot‑tall digital billboard with two 20‑by‑60‑foot LED display panels on a city‑owned parcel adjacent to the I‑405 freeway at 14301 Edwards Street (APN 195‑371‑07). Chair Hamadi moved for approval and Vice Chair Wolpert seconded; Commissioner Anderson voted no while Commissioners Nguyen, Wolpert and Chair Hamadi voted yes.

Staff presented the item and recommended approval. "The proposed structure would be 90 feet in height with 2 LED display panels measuring 20 feet by 60 feet each," Contract Principal Planner Stephanie Tomayino told the commission, summarizing the project site (about 21,000 square feet), its industrial M‑1 zoning and the city's prior actions, including a 2023 lease selecting Branded Cities as operator and recent zoning text amendments establishing new signage standards. Staff said the project complies with the city's billboard ordinance and that the applicant submitted renderings and a line‑of‑sight analysis from 13 vantage points to justify the 90‑foot height.

Tomayino said the city's retained lighting consultant peer‑reviewed the applicant's lighting study and confirmed the proposed sign would meet the city's and Caltrans' brightness thresholds; the presentation stated the applicable brightness standard as 0.3 foot‑candle. Staff also told the commission the city will install a perimeter fence and that the billboard operator will maintain the sign itself; other site improvements (curb, sidewalk, storage containers and future maintenance facility work) were described as separate capital‑improvement actions.

Chris McCarver, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Public Affairs for Branded Cities, appeared as the applicant and described the company's December 2023 lease with the city and its compliance with the new ordinance. "We are the company that signed an agreement with the city back in December 2023 for the leasing of the property," McCarver said, and confirmed the lease includes revenue‑reporting/audit provisions for sign revenue and that the company expects to remove the sign at the end of the lease term.

A nearby property owner, Gary Yegazarian, told commissioners his parcel (APN 19529103), currently zoned R‑5, sits adjacent to the proposed site and warned the rezoning and billboard would place "direct and substantial impacts—light intrusion, noise, loss of privacy, and reduced property value." Yegazarian asked the city council to open acquisition negotiations as mitigation. The city attorney and assistant city attorney told the commission that existing residential units would be protected by setback rules and that a future developer could still apply to develop the R‑5 parcel but would be subject to applicable housing and setback requirements; commissioners nevertheless expressed concern about potential future conflicts and property‑value effects.

Several commissioners raised procedural and policy questions. Commissioners noted staff used the minimum 500‑foot public‑notification radius required by code (staff said 285 notices were mailed), while the planning commission had previously recommended a 1,500‑foot radius for billboards; others urged stronger conditions such as reducing the height to 80 feet or smaller face sizes. Staff said the 90‑foot design was within the ordinance's maximum and that Caltrans separation rules apply only to billboards on the same side of the freeway.

After deliberation, Chair Hamadi moved to approve the CUP and the commission adopted a resolution approving construction of the 90‑foot digital billboard; Tomayino read the resolution wording and noted the commission's action is subject to a 15‑day appeal period.

The planning commission's approval does not finalize construction: the decision is subject to the 15‑day appeal window and to subsequent building‑permit, grading and capital‑improvement approvals described by staff.