GETTING THERE: Billboards' bright lights a nuisance, some say

El Paso County has the distinction - dubious or not, depending on your viewpoint - of having the most electronic billboards in the state.

In fact, there are only six such state-of-the-art billboards in Colorado - and five of them are right here in River City.

Thursday, some folks bothered by what they call the aesthetic blight, light pollution and potential safety issues posed by the bright signs will ask El Paso County commissioners to consider a regulation that could, indirectly, limit the number of LED-powered billboards that go up in the future.

Larry Barrett, a board member of Scenic Colorado, said the organization dedicated to preserving the visual beauty of the state would like the county to greatly limit the frequency that new messages are flashed to passing motorists from the currently allowed six seconds to one hour. Critics charge that advertising that flashes briefly, only to be replaced by another within seconds, is a distraction to drivers and poses a potential safety problem.

Denver has imposed just such a one-hour rule, and it has only one electronic billboard.
That's no coincidence, said Hal Ward, general manager of Lamar Advertising in Colorado Springs, the largest billboard company in the region and owner of the five local electronic billboards.

He said the signs' ability to change advertising every few seconds - with messages from up to six advertisers - is exactly what makes them popular with advertisers. For example, he said a restaurant can tailor an electronic message about its breakfasts in the morning and change that message to hawk its hamburgers at lunchtime. He said limiting the amount of time the messages can be changed would hurt advertisers and cut Lamar's revenues.

Ward, though, said he isn't adverse to talking about another recommendation billboard critics will suggest to the commissioners: turning down the brightness of the LED billboards at night. A standard-sized electronic billboard contains about 450,000 light-emitting diodes that can, during daytime, generate 10,000 nits, a measure of luminescence. The sun generates about 6,500 nits, according to Scenic America, a nationwide organization linked to Scenic Colorado.

"We don't have a problem with that. It can be done," Ward said. "We're willing to work with neighborhoods or whoever and come up with something acceptable. We're not trying to be a bad neighbor by any means."

The Nov. 20 meeting at which these suggestions will be broached is actually on a more prosaic matter - a request by Lamar for belated special-use permits for two electronic billboards it has installed on U.S. Highway 24 near Peterson Air Force Base and one on South Academy Boulevard. Lamar took down two traditional billboards at those locations about a year ago and, under county regulations, got county staff permission to replace them with similar-sized electronic boards. But when the boards were installed by an outside contractor, Ward said, Lamar discovered the boards were actually a bit larger.

Swapping a smaller billboard for a larger one - electronic or not - would normally require a special-use permit, a process that would allow nearby residents to comment.

Barrett said the new electronic boards are a fait accompli, but his group would like to see the county, perhaps through an advisory board, examine whether we really want the bright lights of the big city spoiling our county's vistas. The city of Colorado Springs does not allow electronic billboards.

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Tell me your commuter tales. 636-0197 or bill.mckeown@gazette.com