Everywhere a sign under proposed law

Existing and new billboards will be able to stay up forever without review by cities or counties under a proposed law making its way through the Nevada Assembly.

The city of Las Vegas is vowing to fight the billboard industry and its lobbyists over the bill, which was introduced by Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas.

"It's abusive and abrasive," said Councilman Larry Brown. "At the end of the day, this wouldn't only adversely impact our ability to regulate, it will have a tremendous adverse impact to our neighborhood."

Currently, the city of Las Vegas approves billboards with review periods of two to five years, depending on the location.

When the review is up, the city can determine whether the neighborhood around the billboard has changed to make the sign incompatible with the area. The city can force the billboard to be removed.

The staff also checks to make sure the signs are being maintained, the lighting isn't spilling over into the neighborhood and other conditions on the approval are being followed.

The bill removes that review, along with the ability of cities and counties to tell the industry to remove the billboards without paying the private company "just compensation."

The private industry puts the figure at about $1 million per sign, according to city officials.

The county has stopped approving new billboards. But from 2002 to 2004, the Clark County Commission approved several signs that came with a required review after 10 years, said Charles Pulsipher, county planning manager.

At that point, those billboards will need to be removed, he said.

Many billboards in both the city and the county have been grandfathered in and are not subject to review.

"The board of county commissioners determined there were enough billboards in the county," he said. "There was a proliferation of billboards. With so many of them, it constituted a visual nuisance."

The bill, Assembly Bill 438, is currently in front of the Governmental Affairs Committee.

It also allows owners of billboards to tilt or raise their signs by up to 30 feet if they become obstructed, such as if a property owner builds an obstruction, according to city officials.

Atkinson did not return calls and e-mails Thursday and Friday seeking comment. Neither did Mark Fiorentino, a lawyer and lobbyist with Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw and Ferrario, who is representing the outdoor advertising industry.

Deputy Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell said the city has offered to negotiate with the billboard industry on some of their concerns but has been rebuffed.

"Is there a stalemate between us and the industry? I believe there is," she said. "There are certain things the industry doesn't want to bend on."

She said the billboard industry wants several things, including:

• Having a billboard's height measured from the ground to the bottom of the sign, rather than from the ground to the top of the sign, as it is now. That would affect how tall billboards could be.

• Allowing billboards to be altered without the approval of the City Council. That includes changing an old-fashioned static sign to one with a digital display, Fretwell said.

• Eliminating the requirement for inspection of older billboards that might not previously have been inspected.

Brown said during Wednesday's council meeting that the city should fight back, with possibly more restrictive ordinances.

"The industry and the lobbyists, and to a certain extent the legislatures, are telling us, 'We don't care what you're doing, we're going to do it our way.' I find that offensive," he said. "We as a council should fight back, and fight back aggressively."

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman agreed.

"We are the front line, we are the first responders. We face the residents and neighbors and have to make these decisions every day," he said.

County spokesman Dan Kulin said, "We have some concerns and are working with the Legislature and the industry on this issue."