Council approves Lamar plan to remove 18 static signs and add five digital billboards

Jurupa Valley’s City Council voted Nov. 21 to approve a billboard relocation and digital-sign package proposed by Lamar, accepting removal credits for static signs and authorizing a limited set of new digital displays in specified corridors.

City staff told council the 2018 ordinance governing billboards includes an overlay that limits new digital billboards to designated corridors and requires removal credits (removing three static signs to allow one new digital sign). Staff said Lamar is removing 18 static signs — including several in disrepair in residential areas — and will install five digital signs in higher-traffic corridors. Staff and Lamar provided satellite imagery and lease documentation to substantiate which signs had been previously removed and which were eligible for credit under the agreement.

A councilmember pressed staff to confirm whether removal of the smaller, neighborhood signs would harm private-property owners who received land-rent payments; staff and Lamar’s representative said lease terms typically stop when a sign is dismantled and committed to double-check a short list of locations the council raised.

Lamar’s representative described the company’s acquisition of prior sign portfolios and said the operator worked with the city to remove blighted signs quickly. “We worked with the city attorney’s office on this. The billboards have already been removed… the land rent would have been stopped paying to the land owner,” the representative noted when discussing property impacts.

The council moved and approved the agreement; a roll-call reading recorded unanimous 'Aye' votes. Staff will verify the specific sign removals and return any clarifications to council as needed.