Digital billboards are still banned in Indianapolis, for now

Billboards with flashing lights, video or any kind of electrical element have been banned in Marion County since 2003, but a provision to allow them — with some stipulations — died before it could reach the City-County Council for a vote.

It's a move that disappoints sign companies but elates neighbors who have been fighting hard against the advertising methods for years. 

But both agree on one thing: Reducing the number of existing billboards in the city is an end goal. Reaching that point, though, is where the consensus fades. 

"We have worked diligently with neighborhood groups," Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said. "I know that it is a contentious and contested issue. I think that collectively as a community, I have no doubt that we’ll ultimately move in the right direction. Right direction meaning a compromise that everyone feels comfortable with."

'There are only so many ways you can get billboards out of neighborhoods'

The digital billboard provision was a small part of the city's revamped sign ordinance, a revision process that took nearly two years to complete and was the first major overhaul of the ordinance in more than 30 years.

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Under the proposed addition to the sign ordinance, digital billboards could be built as long as they replaced nearly twice the space of existing traditional, or static, billboards.

"The goal of our revision, the goal of the proposal, was see a significant number of billboards in Marion County go away," said Shannon Norman, Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development's principal planner. "Net reduction of billboards was always at the front of everyone's mind. The way the program that was crafted and proposed was to incentivize that removal."

Luring sign makers with the possibility of digital billboards is the least expensive way to remove those outdated static billboards, Department of Metropolitan Development Director Emily Mack said.

"Other cities have done this," Mack said. "There are only so many ways you can get billboards out of neighborhoods. You can buy them, and they're very very expensive to buy. You're not only buying a structure, you're buying something that has an endless revenue stream. Some cities have eminent domained billboards. That also has a hefty price tag with it."

A unanimous decision to ban digital billboards

At the Feb. 11 Metropolitan and Economic Development Commission meeting, Council Vice President Zach Adamson introduced an amendment to strike any mention of allowing digital billboards to move forward. The commission unanimously voted for the amendment — thus maintaining the existing ban.

"That was pretty awesome," said Pat Andrews, a member of the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations, or McANA. "I didn't expect a unanimous decision."

The rest of the revised sign ordinance now heads to the City-County Council for a vote Monday.

Andrews, along with representatives from a number of other neighborhood organizations, including the Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis, HUNI. the Near Eastside Community Organization, NESCO, and Pike Township Residents Association, PTRA, have been working to outlaw digital billboards construction since at least 2014, when a proposal to reverse the ban was brought to the City-County Council.

The neighborhood groups have concerns about the appearance of electronic billboards, whether they cause driver distraction and whether it could cause potential newcomers to the city to lose interest in moving to the city.

"It adds all that clutter to the environment," HUNI President Garry Chilluffo said. "Some people liken it to Times square. Well, we don't want Times Square. This is Indiana."

But, wait, I've seen some digital billboards

Four digital billboards already exist in Marion County: Two on state property not governed by the city at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and two on I-70 on the westside, which are only permitted after the sign company sued the city in 2015, claiming the existing ordinance was unconstitutional.

Chris Iversen, vice president and general manager of Lamar Advertising, expressed his disappointment to the council after it voted to remove any language about digital billboards in the newest version of the sign ordinance.

"Regrettably, we support that as the status quo," he said. "One day we would like to come back and talk about digital billboards as the wave of the future. Digital technology is all around us. I understand there is opposition, but in my heart, I believe that there's a way that we can bring this technology to this city."

More to come for billboards in Indianapolis

City-County Councilor Jared Evans doesn't see any reason to believe this is the end of the discussion for digital billboards. 

"I feel pretty strongly that it's going to come up in the future," Evans said. "If the billboards are placed respectfully in the right areas, it can play an integral part in our city."

Evans said he would've liked a requirement to remove more static billboard space than two for every one square foot, he said. 

"I had a lot of heartburn about the ratio," he said. "The question becomes are we focused on reducing the number of billboards or are we focused on keeping digital billboards out?" 

It's a question Andrews of McANA said she wrestled with but ultimately chose what she viewed as a lesser of two evils. Static billboards would naturally be removed, albeit slower, through attrition, Andrews said. That was her organization's preferred method.

"We want a city ultimately with fewer billboards, and so how do you get there?" Andrews said. "It's not that we don't want billboards to come down, we just thought that there was a model we could follow at a slower pace where the city wouldn't be liable for the cost. It takes longer, but it works."

Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at 317-444-6752. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.