The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
City garden clubs flexed their political muscle Tuesday night, persuad ing the City Council to reconsider regulations for electronic signs that were poised to be passed next week.
As a result, a new committee - at least the third in almost a year - will be formed to develop another set of rules for LED signs. The process could take up to three months.
Council members said they'll vote next week on some sort of interim regulations to put in place while talks continue. Currently, the city has no rules on LED signs.
The city has put on hold about 20 pending applications while waiting for regulations to pass.
Calling for a ban on the proliferating signs, about 50 garden club members descended on City Hall for the Tuesday night public hearing.
"We think they're a blight, and they put us on sensory overload," said Johnnie Miller, past president of the city's beautification commission, which since the 1960s has planted trees and flowers, cleaned up litter and lobbied for tight sign regulations.
Garden club members repeatedly invoked a passionate letter City Manager Jim Spore wrote earlier this year to council members, calling for an LED ban.
Two sign company representatives said the nearly year long effort to come up with rules is taking too long.
"It's an unjust hold up with the applications in there," said John Yarrington of Talley Anchor Co., who's representing several businesses who want LEDs.
Mayor Will Sessoms said he pushed for the delay because garden club members told him they felt left out of the process.
The most recent proposal would have allowed text-only LEDs in full color with one hour between messages. On Tuesday, Sessoms called for 24 hours between messages.
Councilman Glenn Davis, who worked on the council subcommittee on LED signs, said that was too long.
City Attorney Mark Stiles advised council members that an outright ban is possible but could be vulnerable to legal challenges.
"It will probably be a fight," he said.
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
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City garden club?
What do they do? Who are in these "clubs"? That just seems silly they are involved in this at all.
They just look better
Why does a garden club care about a sign in front of a Mcdonalds? These signs look a lot better than the non led type. If VB is going to get into the bussiness of not allowing new technical innovation they soon will be out of bussiness as companys flee to a more friendly cities.
Safety First
Come on Mr. Mayor and Council members. This is an easy one. Think of Safety First and the rest will fall into place. Is this what we're paying the Mayor and Council members to do for our city; which is they cannot even address this concern without further delays.
Folks, we need to look for new leadership when they are all up for
re-election. I say keep Councilman DeSteph and give Councilwoman Bellito a chance being she was recently appointed. At least they will represent the people and not specail interests. Let's begin with dumping Councilman Wood and then go from there.
Bladerunner
Its just a matter of time, wait and see, Town Center will look like a scene from "Bladerunner".
If only.
That would be amazing.
Dangerous lights
There are electronic devices near the road that seem to have a lot of auto accidents near them.
They're called TRAFFIC LIGHTS.
Ever see a crash in front of an LED sign? Me neither.
Actually, all those traffic
Actually, all those traffic signals have green, yellow and red LED light displays.
on no
So according to mayor willie, those can only change their display every 24 hours?
Think of the traffic jams!
Good question. Ya think
Good question. Ya think maybe it's part of the master game plan to get people on board with light rail? Ya know, make it so bad to drive that everyone will scream for light rail. Anyway, I think there may be a few traffic lights now that only change once an hour.
Council and staff should
Council and staff should review, if they have not already done so, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-7 (256), titled Safety Impacts of the Emerging Digital Display Technology for Outdoor Advertising. The project final report was April 2009 and can be found on the web. Judging by the comments made on this subject it seems many may not view the issue as important. Sorry to disagree but I believe if we are not careful it can negatively impact safety on our roads. I am not opposed to these types of signs, only to allowing them without some control over their placement and the displays allowed. Beautification of our streetscapes is important to many, but ensuring safety on our roads should be a priority of all.