Daily Loaf

I like Las Vegas. The casinos, free drinks, bright flashy lights rivaling Times Square — it’s like a playground for adults. Even if you visit on a reporter’s budget, there’s a wealth of fun and free things to do. On nice nights, just walking down the Strip, sipping on a flask of whiskey and watching the mini-movies on huge digital billboards is enough for me.

But I don’t think I’d want to live there. Or drive there. One reason is the aforementioned digital billboards. They’re distracting, contribute enormously to light pollution and look, well, like Vegas. And I’d hate like hell to live near one.

That’s why the city of Tampa’s near approval of such digital billboards is a bit disconcerting. Under a legal settlement with two billboard companies last month, Tampa’s city attorney is recommending that digital billboards be allowed within city limits and as close as 200 feet to homes. (Digital billboards are already allowed in Hillsborough County. Click here to see a map of all of Clear Channel’s billboards.)

For two years, Tampa officials and two billboard companies, Clear Channel and CBS, have been in litigation following the city’s removal of hundreds of billboards to improve the look of some Tampa streets. Now CBS and Clear Channel want a digital billboard to replace every three billboards that were removed.

Digital billboards aren’t passive advertisements. They can change images every few seconds and light up a wide section of road making night seem like twilight. Digital billboards are also not environmentally friendly. A Texas study by the U.S. Green Building Council found that the yearly power consumption of one digital billboard is enough to power 13 homes.

Communities that allowed digital billboards in the past are now regretting their choices. Take Los Angeles, which approved digital billboards in 2006 after a similar legal settlement. Now, they’re considering a moratorium after massive citizen complaints over an escalating amount of the flashy signs. And looking back, residents are miffed about the lack of input from the beginning.

With that said, Tampa councilmembers plan to take up the issue at their Dec. 18 meeting.

(Top photo courtesy of Bludgeoner86, other photo courtesy of Clear Channel)

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