Follow the Money - by Pat Andrews

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The opinions expressed in these articles and features are those of their author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of McANA or the opinion of its Directors or Officers.

Follow the Money
by Pat Andrews
[Vice-President of McANA]

As our readers are fully aware, this space is reserved for commentary by McANA’s President, Cathy Burton. Well, this month Ms. Burton emailed her high-tech version of ‘the dog ate my homework’. It seems computer problems have sidelined your normally scheduled insightful remarks.

Instead you get my thoughts for the month of April, 2003. As it is crunch time for proponents of a comprehensive sign ordinance review, my thoughts have been on that task. In reviewing information about the billboard industry and moratoria, I have come across some interesting items that I’d like to share with you.

The billboard industry is dominated by three multi-billion dollar companies that control over 2/3 of the billboards in North America. As part of their growth strategy, they have been increasing their stock of ‘sign faces’ by erecting new and by gobbling up the competition. Clear Channel may be the largest billboard company in the world, having absorbed Eller. Viacom may be the biggest billboard company in the US. And, rounding out our trifecta is Lamar, which also owns Whitco.

Of the 19 billboard companies that applied for a permit since January 1, 2001, (includes those now subsumed) 9 listed an Indianapolis address.

By surfing around the net, the numbers and prices of one ‘Indianapolis’ company, Clear Channel, can be found. Corporate offices are located in San Antonio, TX. As of December 31, 2002, they report 1559 sign faces in our Indianapolis. The pricing is from $1800 per face (90 face minimum for 4 weeks) to $5250 per face (2 face minimum for 4 weeks). That translates into $36,480,600 to $106,401,750 per year revenue for capturing Indy’s view.

It would be nice to know what the entire Indianapolis market is, but the billboard companies refuse to divulge where and how many signs they have. So Dan Hayes, the person undertaking the newly created Sign Enforcement position in the Division of Compliance, will have to go around and catalog billboards himself. Using tax dollars, when a little cooperation could have been applied instead.

The billboard industry is quite good at using tax dollars. In some jurisdictions they have had the temerity to demand that cities pay to remove trees that block the view of the boards from public streets!

Even here, we have seen the high prices demanded by the industry for removal of signs, paid with tax dollars. Scenic America reports that it costs between $3000 and $5000 to erect a billboard. But billboard companies charge hundreds of thousands to remove them. Take a for instance those on Indianapolis International Airport property. The construction along I-70 required the removal of billboards. One company was paid $232,000 just to remove 3 billboards and relocate them along I-465.

Decades ago, I believe it was the 1970’s, Indianapolis, driven by a desire to un-clutter the view of the City, restricted billboards on main streets downtown and within the I-465 beltway along highways. Any company that removed one downtown would be granted new locations around I-456. As you can tell today, the program was a huge success for downtown, removing all but a very few obstructions of the view of an increasingly interesting cityscape. Well, Pinnacle Media has rooted out a legal loophole and has begun staking out billboard claims around the downtown area, among others. All this is despite the clear wishes of the community, the intentions of the current sign ordinance, and the Administration’s protective efforts in court.

Meanwhile, cities and states with permanent bans on new billboard construction thrive. A brief cruise around the internet produced the following list of jurisdictions that have outlawed billboards (this list is by no means exhaustive):

5 states have complete bans; Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Alaska and Rhode Island. Oregon limits the total number of billboards allowed along its highways and freeways.

At least 26 other states contain jurisdictions that ban billboards. Some of these are: Monterey, Palm Springs and San Jose in California. Aspen, Telluride, and Denver in Colorado. Daytona Beach, Miami Beach, and Tampa are among over 200 cities and counties in Florida. Santa Fe and Taos in New Mexico. And, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin in Texas.

Of the top 10 jurisdictions, by tourist spending, in the state of Virginia, 9 have a permanent billboard ban.

A one year moratorium on new billboard construction will not harm the industry or Indianapolis. There are thousands of billboards in Marion County that will continue to stream income to their owners. The lack of a moratorium could very well harm the integrity of the public process of reviewing the sign ordinance. If any changes are entertained in the billboard section, the billboard companies will look to grandfather themselves in.

I guess it comes down to this for Indianapolis: who owns the view and how much is it worth?

Pat Andrews