Tolleson's future got a little brighter Tuesday with the approval of digital billboards. The City Council voted 4-2 to amend its zoning ordinance and allow the signs. Regular billboards are still prohibited.
The narrow margin of the vote did not mean the council was divided on the issue, but over the number of signs to allow. A motion to approve the item with an amendment changing the number from two to four failed by a 3-3 vote. Councilman Albert Mendoza was absent.
"When the digital billboard first came to us, it was something new and very innovative," Vice Mayor Anna Solorio Tovar said. "As more discussion came about, I got a little bit concerned of having too many billboards. In my opinion, two or three would be more than enough for a city our size."
Mayor Adolfo Gamez made the push for more signs, because it would "cover anything coming down the pipe." Councilwomen Kathie Farr and Linda Laborin agreed. A second motion to allow two signs passed when Laborin changed her vote.
"I'll vote yes or we'll be here all night," she said.
In May, American Outdoor Advertising submitted a proposal to build at least four digital marquees along Interstate 10 on property zoned for commercial or industrial uses.
The matter was stalled in August when Tolleson's Planning and Zoning Commission decided to postpone a vote until a study on the safety of digital billboards is released by the Federal Highway Administration next year.
City attorneys determined the commission did not have authority to delay an action, and the P&Z board later voted 3-1 to recommend that changing the ordinance should be denied.
Council's control
Although Tolleson voted to allow the signs, every user still has to go through the process to obtain a use permit. The council will have the authority to approve or deny any application.
Each digital billboard will be subject to a monthly permit fee of $3,000, and Tolleson will also collect sales tax on the sale of the advertisements.
Tolleson has already been contacted by "big users" interested in the digital billboards, City Manager Reyes Medrano said.
The signs must be at least a half-mile apart in any direction and 500 feet from a freeway monument sign, which is generally used to advertise businesses along the freeway.
The digital billboards will each have two screens, which hold a message for up to eight seconds before the next advertisement is displayed. The screens are controlled by a computer and transmit light using light-emitting diode display technology.
One change made to the ordinance was the brightness level allowed for the screens, which was decreased from 5,000 nits to 1,000 nits during the day. A nit is a luminescence measurement used to describe the light output of computer displays.
"After further research, it was determined that 5,000 can be too bright and that 1,000 is a reasonable industry standard," City Attorney Chris Schmaltz said.
Questions over the content of ads were also addressed at the meeting.
"There are significant restrictions on our ability to direct or require specific content in a signage," Schmaltz said. "There are commercial speech issues under the Constitution, which would be raised by any attempt to try to restrict the content of a sign."
However, limitations can be put in place under the use permit process in regards to "offensive or objectionable" signage, he said.
Emily McCann can be reached by e-mail
at emccann@westvalleyview.com.
