Senate panel advances bill to ease billboard relocations in Indianapolis

Senate Bill 167, a measure to ease relocation rules for existing billboards in Indianapolis, cleared a Senate committee 8–1 after a chair amendment to preserve federal law references.

The committee approved the bill as amended after testimony from city and industry representatives. "We as a community retain the ability to apply signage standards based on time, place, and manner," said Megan Vukasich, director of the Department of Metropolitan Development for the City of Indianapolis, asking the panel not to support the bill. Industry witnesses, including Dan McClendon, general manager of Reagan Outdoor Advertising, said the bill is a narrow, "1-for-1 relocation" approach and would not create new billboards.

Why it matters: proponents said the bill provides a practical option for relocating older billboard structures during construction and allows updates to sign construction for safety; opponents said it would remove municipal zoning discretion and could increase billboard proliferation inside I‑465. NDOT cautioned that the bill’s exemption language as drafted risked conflicting with the Federal Highway Beautification Act and could jeopardize federal highway funds.

Details: Vukasich told the committee Indianapolis spent months meeting with the billboard industry and in January 2025 adopted zoning revisions that allow limited relocations outside I‑465, increased certain height allowances and adjusted spacing and setback standards. She said the city has roughly 680 billboard structures in Marion County, more than 425 of which are inside I‑465, and warned that allowing relocations inside the loop would undermine longstanding local controls dating to 1971.

Dan McClendon, representing Reagan Outdoor Advertising and the Outdoor Advertising Association of Indiana, told senators the bill restricts relocations to commercially or industrially zoned sites, prohibits creation of electronic billboards and is intended to move existing signs away from residential areas. "This bill is fairly simple and straightforward," he said, arguing the measure simply applies state siting expertise to Marion County relocations.

NDOT’s perspective: Aaron Wainscott, NDOT legislative director, said the department is not opposed in concept but raised a statutory concern: as drafted the bill could create exemptions that would prevent NDOT from reviewing relocated signs under federal standards that govern outdoor advertising within 660 feet of interstate and federal‑aid highways. He told the committee that failing to maintain effective state control could trigger a 10% withholding of federal highway funding by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The chair offered an amendment to add an explicit federal‑law reference to the exemption language; the amendment was adopted by consent.

Vote and next steps: After discussion and the chair amendment, the committee approved SB167 as amended on a roll-call vote, 8 in favor and 1 opposed (Senator Ford). The bill will proceed to the next committee stages with the committee’s amendment instructing compliance with federal standards.

The hearing included exchanges about prior negotiations between the city and industry dating to April 2024 and efforts to reconcile local and state interests; sponsors and stakeholders indicated they will continue to refine language as the bill moves forward.