Judge calls digital billboard settlement agreement 'poison,' indicates he will void it

A Superior Court judge indicated today that he planned to nullify a 2006 settlement between the city of Los Angeles and two companies, CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel, that allowed them to convert 840 of their billboards to a digital format.

That ruling would be a repudiation of former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who negotiated the settlement with the two companies after they sued Los Angeles over its 2002 billboard regulations.

A third billboard company, Summit Media, has sued the city, arguing the 2006 settlement was illegal because it granted CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel special rights to modernize hundreds of billboards at time when the city’s laws barred other companies from doing so.

So far, the two companies have converted only 101 signs to digital format. The City Council passed a new ban on digital billboards in August.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green signaled that he agreed with Summit that the city acted beyond the scope of its authority in entering into the settlement agreement and planned to issue a written ruling at a later date.

Green said that it "seems pretty much a slam dunk that there was a ban” on modernizing signs at that time, and that the city exempted CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel from city laws that applied to other billboard companies, giving them an advantage.

"Different rules applied to the real parties [CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel] that didn’t apply to anyone else in the industry," Green said.

“The entire agreement is poison,” Green said at the end of today's hearing after stating he planned to throw out the agreement.

But the judge said he was still deciding what he would do with the permits for the 101 signs that were modernized as a result of the agreement.

He said he planned to void the permits or simply say the agreement “is void and no longer in effect” and let citizens challenge the permits if they choose to do so.

Summit’s attorney Timothy Alger had asked the judge to revoke the permits for all 101 digital signs: “Invalidate the settlement agreement and all the evil that flowed from it,” he said.

But the attorney representing CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel, Laura Brill, said the permits should not be revoked without an administrative hearing to determine the legality of each sign.

Dennis Hathaway, president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight, said challenging each sign would be “a terribly arduous process” that could place “a huge burden on the public.”

After the court hearing, Brill said that her clients believe the settlement agreement is valid and that they would await the judge’s ruling.

-- Maeve Reston

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Comments

[Charles]

I have no problem with the digital billboards scattered around the city. However, what I feel is rather dangerous are the huge non-digital ones on buildings alongside the freeways, many of which have small-print wording that leads drivers to focus on them.

[pcm]

Man, would I like to be on the jury that hears the case of the motorist who crashed because of the distraction of one of those billboards. Suffice to say he would be one rich dude. It's illegal to point a laser into the sky to protect pilots, but not to distract drivers...I luff Amreeka!

[Gaucho420]

So should billboards and bright lights be banned in Vegas too? Maybe in France, they shold ban the Eiffel Tower signs because they could be distractions to drivers.

And any sign on the Sunset strip that's lighted also needs to be banned, as well as the giant NASDAQ "sign" in NYC.

Give me a break...the digital signs look much better than the old types and they are not such a distraction that a driver should crash due to them nor are they eye sores either.

RI-DI-CU-LOUS!

There's a lot more distractions on the road that are worse.

[bwunderlick]

Another black eye for the city leadership on this issue. The city attorney, the mayor, the council, EVERYONE either actively or passively allowed the agreement to come into being, but then acted confused when people complained. Meanwhile the city is involved in a lengthy legal battle costing untold amounts of legal fees over an issue a judge (and most citizens) calls a "slam dunk". Fantastic work city government! Can't wait for Trutanich to try and make a name for himself crushing medical marijuana dispensaries based on his creative, highly personal reading the law....

[Rodrigo]

Now is clear, Rocky is an scumbag he was paid over 5 million ($5,000.000.00)
accordingly to the chicos organized crime South Los Angeles and needs to be prosecuted investigated and sent straight to jail.

[Brian R. Pasquale]

I would like to congratulate and shake Judge Greens hand. I am a huge Yankee fan and I would rather meet him then Derek Jeter! Finally someone has said, "There's an elephant in the room!"

Brian R. Pasquale
President / Owner
Equity Outdoor Inc.

[Annoyed]

anyone complaining about the ruling, does not live with one in their neighborhood.

It's like having a giant stadium video screen right outside the bedroom window.

amazing that digital vandals haven't figured out how to hack them!

[Tommy]

This is L.A. The more glitz the better. Terry Green is an anti-business Obamabot, turning away badly needed tax dollars.