The most significant decisions from last night’s council meeting are:

• On the November ballot will be a referendum asking Peorians if they want to override the state’s new primary election rules.
• The new snow route plan was approved. Public Works Director Dave Barber stated that his philosophy is to plow the streets with the highest ADT (average daily traffic) first for “safety” purposes, rather than plowing the streets with the most population density first. He also stated that the city should be able to be completely plowed within 18 hours of a major snow event under this new system.
• The electronic billboard was approved for the Knoxville-Pennsylvania-interstate intersection. Planning & Growth Director Pat Landes stated that the City staff reversed itself and recommended approval because Adams Outdoor Advertising had satisfied the City’s conditions subsequent to the council communication being distributed. The City’s conditions were (1) that Adams provide proof that the State (IDOT) approved of an electronic sign next to the expressway, and (2) that Adams provide proof that the light emitted from the electronic sign would be no brighter than a traditional sign. Second District Council Member Barbara Van Auken moved to approve the special use. She said the issue before the council was not the placement of the sign (decided in February 2007) or whether the council likes billboards in general; the issue instead was whether Adams satisfied the City’s conditions. She also implied that the zoning commission’s recommendation for denial was based only on the fact the City’s conditions had not been met, but that’s unclear to me from reading their minutes; they may have had additional reasons for denying it.

Furthermore, regarding the billboard issue, it’s come to my attention that Peg Murphy, the executive director of Family House which is immediately adjacent to the property the billboard is on, wrote a letter to other council members that stated, in part:

I am writing because I am concerned about the impact of the large lighted billboard just beyond our home. I only had the information from the Journal Star article concerning the zoning meeting. I called and spoke to Barbara Van Auken, our council person and she told me that she would be asking for approval for the billboard. She said that the appropriate documents have now been submitted to indicate that the lighting will have little impact on the surrounding neighbors. I hope this is correct. Because of the height of our home and its primary use -sleep and comfort for our guests, we are naturally concerned.

This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it doesn’t sound like Family House was properly notified of the zoning commission meeting, since Ms. Murphy states she only heard about it from a Journal Star article. She should have received a notice in the mail since her property is most assuredly within 250 feet of the billboard’s property. It also makes one wonder if the residents of affected homes on Linn Street were properly notified of the hearing.

Second, the e-mail was sent on August 12, and she states that Ms. Van Auken told her that “the appropriate documents have now been submitted to indicate that the lighting will have little impact on the surrounding neighbors.” However, one wonders how that is possible, since that’s one of the conditions that the Zoning Commission and the City said was not met, and was in fact the reason the item was deferred from August 12 until August 26. I suppose it’s all a moot point, since the documentation has been provided now. But I found it curious. Perhaps Ms. Van Auken received the information before the City did. Still, it’s too bad that an adjacent property owner felt that her concerns were not adequately considered before the decision was made.

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.