Tonight’s council agenda includes a request to allow an electronic billboard at Knoxville and Pennsylvania avenues, right by the Knoxville/I-74 interchange (note that the address for the billboard is given as Linn St.; that’s because access to the billboard is from Linn, one block west of Knoxville):

(08-418) Communication from the Interim City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management Requesting the Following:

A. Receive and File the SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION.

B. Take Action on Request to Adopt an ORDINANCE Amending Ordinance No. 16,072, an EXISTING SPECIAL USE in a Class CG (General Commercial) District for an OFF-PREMISE SIGN (Billboard) to Add an ELECTRONIC MULTIPLE MESSAGE DISPLAY for the EAST SIDE of the BILLBOARD for Property Located at 1418 N. LINN STREET;

OR

C. Concur with the Recommendation from the Zoning Commission to DENY the Request to Adopt an ORDINANCE Amending Ordinance No. 16,072, an EXISTING SPECIAL USE in a Class CG (General Commercial) District for an OFF-PREMISE SIGN (Billboard) to Add an ELECTRONIC MULTIPLE MESSAGE DISPLAY for the EAST SIDE of the BILLBOARD for Property Located at 1418 N. LINN STREET.

The staff and the zoning commission have both recommended denial of this request. The zoning commission’s recommendation was unanimous. Yet this item was deferred the first time it appeared on the council agenda, and now it appears with an additional option to approve.

It seems to me that if the council wanted to protect the city from gaudy electronic billboards, especially one that abuts single family homes and is, in fact, located too close to a residential neighborhood, they would have the perfect opportunity to do so here. Staff is opposed. Zoning commission is opposed. Council could vote it down with impunity.

But apparently someone is trying to get this through. I guess we’ll find out tonight who’s advocating for the outdoor advertisers. I have a feeling it’s going to be our second district council member.

Other communities are looking for ways to restrict these kinds of billboards. Four states — Maine, Vermont, Hawaii and Alaska — have banned billboards altogether. The reason is that they clutter public spaces and hide the natural beauty of our cities and transportation corridors. There’s even a non-profit group called Scenic America that is “dedicated solely to preserving and enhancing the visual character of America’s communities and countryside.” That means they advocate for billboard restrictions. Here’s a video essay they put together on YouTube:

It does make you wonder, as these LED billboards become more and more prominent in Peoria, how long it will be before driving down University or Knoxville is going to look like driving down Las Vegas boulevard. We need to start thinking about this now, before it’s too late.

And the council needs to vote down this electronic billboard. There’s no compelling reason to allow it.

UPDATE: Before anyone points it out to me, I’m aware that we have a sign ordinance that does regulate electronic billboards, as well as the placement and spacing of signs in general. But as we’ve learned from the Land Development Code, the ordinance is only as good as its enforcement. We have to be careful about where and why and how we make exceptions. We’ve already made an exception with this billboard by allowing it to be significantly closer to a residential neighborhood than is normally allowed. We might also want to consider whether the existing ordinance is strict enough.