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Robinson Outdoor pitches digital billboard at Peoria and Eagle; council sends matter to committee
Summary
Danny Marler of Robinson Outdoor presented a plan for a double-sided digital billboard at 1230 Peoria Street, offered 760 daily impressions per side for city messaging and safety mitigations, and answered council questions; the council directed staff to discuss the proposal at a committee-of-the-whole meeting.
Danny Marler, a property-requirements specialist with Robinson Outdoor, told the Washington City Council on Jan. 5 that his company is proposing a double-sided, high-definition digital billboard at 1230 Peoria Street near the Peoria–Eagle intersection. Marler said the billboard face would be 8 feet by 16 feet, with roughly 21 feet of total height including a stone base, and that the company follows state rules requiring auto-dimming and prohibiting flashing or motion that could distract drivers.
The company offered a community-benefits package that, according to Marler, includes integration with Amber Alerts and a weather warning feed, space for law-enforcement notices, and a permanent allocation of city messaging equal to about 760 impressions per side each day. "We usually give any vacancies that we have on our billboard… generally speaking, we run about 80% occupancy, so at least 20% availability to the community," Marler said, adding that the boards are connected to a weather service and can display emergency warnings.
Council members pressed Marler on safety and location. Several members said the southeast corner of Peoria and Eagle is a busy intersection near school walk routes and expressed concern that an eye-catching digital sign could distract drivers. "That's a very busy intersection… it affects people turning out of the school areas," one councilor said. Marler replied that the sign meets state setback and spacing requirements, that the company uses auto-dimming to avoid excessive brightness, and that they had reduced an earlier requested size after Planning & Zoning review.
Marler offered additional safety mitigation: he said Robinson Outdoor would be willing to purchase two solar-powered strobe crosswalk signs (about $3,800 each) and to include child-safety reminders and speed messages in the city’s allocated ad rotation. He also said the company had scouted other commercial corridors and that the proposed site ranked highly for traffic and visibility.
John Oliphant, who introduced the item for staff, clarified that the Planning & Zoning Commission previously recommended denial of an earlier application at this location and that a different parcel at the same intersection had been the subject of earlier proposals. Oliphant and other staff told councilors that moving the sign to a new parcel would likely require a new variance application.
Rather than take an immediate vote or override the planning board’s recommendation, the council directed staff to schedule the billboard for a committee-of-the-whole discussion with more detailed cost and impact breakdowns and to continue negotiations with the vendor. "I would like to make sure the conversation doesn't die," one councilor said; several others agreed to bring the item back for deeper review.
The presentation was informational; no variance or permit was approved at the meeting. The council asked staff to prepare next steps and to provide additional analysis before any formal readings or votes.
