ISSUE STATEMENT                                         CITIZENS FOR A SCENIC WISCONSIN

                                                                                                             May 31, 2003

 

 

Limiting the Placement of Billboards

      Enriching our Living Spaces

      Enhancing our Business Climate

      Maintaining our Attractiveness to Tourists 

 

Considering the facts and information following, we believe that it is in the best interests of the people of Wisconsin to limit billboards to the lowest number possible.

 

 

We are losing our precious irreplaceable scenery.  Natural and man-made landscapes are being blighted with large unsightly signs.

 

Outdoor advertising is being taken to excess.  Signs provide valuable information, but like telemarketing, and email solicitations, it is being taken to excess. It is unnecessary and inappropriate to advertise products and services of no immediate use to a traveler or tourist (such as sneakers, beverages, bank cards or insurance) on large signs in our landscape.

 

There are a lot of signs.  There are about 17,000 billboards in Wisconsin, 14,500 under the direct jurisdiction of the DOT and the rest under “certified” cities. Outdoor advertising industry spokesmen often say they are taking a lot of billboards down, implying that the number of billboards is not increasing.  But the reality is, looking out the windshield of your car you see a lot more signs.  There are more on the main roads and they are bigger, taller and placed on curves to be visible for longer periods of time.

   

There are enough signs.  There are sufficient signs for all tourist- and traveler- oriented businesses such as hotels, restaurants & gas stations to use.  About 2/3 of outdoor ads are for products and services of no immediate benefit to a traveler.

 

People don’t like billboards.  Most people find signs to be a nuisance. This is shown in numerous surveys in various states, perhaps the most relevant being Missouri in 2000. Depending on the specific question and how it’s posed, responses ran from 58 to 75% against billboards. However, most people don’t take the time and effort to express their opinion to elected representatives because of all their other pressing responsibilities.   

 

The public has a right to enjoy Wisconsin’s scenery. The Public Trust Doctrine guarantees the public the right to enjoy the lakes and rivers, including the scenery of the shores. In this spirit, the state government has the responsibility to protect the scenery along our roads.

 

The purpose of roadways is transportation, not viewing advertisements.  The people have paid for the roadways and should not be subjected to unavoidable viewing of undesired advertising.  People should not be subjected to unneeded visual solicitations and should be protected from them just as they should be protected from telemarketing and junk emails.

 

 

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Billboards offer no special benefit to disadvantaged people.  Billboard operators sometimes donate sign space for charitable causes such as appealing for expensive medical care for a child.  The billboard people like to publicize this, but it is self-serving.  TV, radio and newspapers can do the same thing just as well.

 

Roadside signs do not stimulate the economy. Except a billboard in Illinois that says come to Wisconsin, billboards do not create much new business.  The signs mainly serve to attract a customer to one place of business – and away from the competitor’s. Come to my hotel – drive by that other one. When did you ever hear a respected economist advise that we need more signs to get us out of the recession? 

 

The main beneficiaries of billboards are the billboard operators.  Billboard companies make a steady profit while there is no expansion of the overall economy. Most of these companies are large corporations with headquarters in other states.

 

The tourism business depends on Wisconsin’s special scenery. Our beautiful landscapes are the foundation of the tourism industry. Each billboard that is erected blots out a little scenery and weakens that foundation.

 

Cluttering of highways with signs is making the state unattractive to tourists.  The thrill a first time visitor gets when he sees the Wisconsin River in its valley surrounded by hills, trees and fields north of Madison on his/her way to the Dells is gradually being dulled by large signs. This is happening everywhere. Signs are making everyplace look like everyplace else.    

 

Small businesses benefit from limitation of billboards.  Small businesses such as bed & breakfast inns can’t afford to erect large signs.  Many small businesses suffer from the major billboards put up by the large chain hotels.  

 

Regulation of billboards is needed.  Government regulation should always be held to a minimum, but further regulation of signs is needed to prevent degradation of our surroundings.  You can’t put up a factory in a residential area, and you shouldn’t put up a billboard in a beautiful landscape.

 

Regulating billboards is not difficult or costly.  The DOT is already staffed to regulate billboards. Prohibiting new billboards is a simple change to the law.  Regulation happens to be easy and adds no cost to the state budget.

 

We must respect property rights.  Any property owner should be allowed to put up signs on his/her own property to advertise a business conducted on his/her property.  Putting up signs that advertise business at distant locations is not a basic property right.

 

We must allow free speech.  A property owner can erect signs on his/her property that not only advertise his/her business, but the signs can present any other non-commercial message.

 

 

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Controlling outdoor advertising will increase jobs in tourism.  Preventing new billboards along roads would eliminate a segment of the outdoor advertising business so it is possible that a fraction of outdoor advertising jobs would be lost.  Outdoor advertising has a small workforce in Wisconsin. Any jobs lost would be so few in number it could never affect the overall unemployment percentage rate in Wisconsin. Any reduced employment in outdoor advertising would be mitigated by an increase in employment in other advertising media.  Advertisers would likely re-allocate a substantial portion of their outdoor advertising spending to other advertising media, such as radio, TV, magazines and newspapers.

     Tourism is one of the largest industries in Wisconsin. Controlling signage will attract tourists and boost the tourism industry, which employs very many more people than outdoor advertising.

   

Cities and towns need freedom to regulate signage.  Citizens for a Scenic Wisconsin has developed model sign ordinances that planning administrators in cities, villages, towns & counties may use as a reference. We believe that local government should continue to have the authority to regulate signage within their jurisdictions. The limitation of signs statewide along roads with state and federal highway numbers would supplement local regulations.  It would provide basic signage control along main roads in small towns in rural (scenic) areas that don’t have resources to implement more comprehensive regulations.  It would help prevent large signs in neighboring cities from lining the borders of cities with good signage regulation. 

 

Billboard prohibition is not a radical new idea. Six states have billboard limitations: Alaska & Hawaii, Maine & Vermont, Michigan, Oregon and Rhode Island.  The first four states have taken them all down.  That’s right, there is no off-premise outdoor advertising in Alaska, Hawaii, Maine & Vermont. No billboards in the fields or along the approaches to attractive towns.

     The last four states have a “cap” on billboards: to put up a new one requires that an existing one come down.

     All of these states are major tourist destinations.  A study in Vermont showed that tourism has grown since the billboards have come down.

     Most European countries don’t allow billboards, among them Great Britain, Germany, France, Ireland & Austria.  It’s one of the reasons they are so charming to tourists.

     Many American cities have prohibitions on new billboards: Houston & Dallas for many years, Los Angeles and San Francisco last year.  Indianapolis just enacted a moratorium on new billboards while they prepare billboard regulation. Many tourist destinations disallow billboards: Williamsburg VA, Martha’s Vineyard MA, Reno NV, Key West FL, Aspen CO, many more.

     Some Wisconsin cities have billboard restrictions.  Dane County has had a new billboard ban for many years and Winnebago County recently enacted a ban.  The city of Wauwatosa has excellent signage regulation, including a ban on billboards.  Nobody ever complains about not being able to find a store or shop in Wauwatosa.  Mayfair Shopping Center, the most prosperous in the Milwaukee area, has no billboard soaring over it.

 

There are alternatives to billboards.  There is a system of Tourist Oriented Directional Signs, small inexpensive signs allowed along all roads including county roads. This system levels the playing field for small business and should be expanded.

     Logo Signs, usually several on one signboard, seen at freeway exits is another excellent system available to tourist-oriented businesses.  

     Information systems in new automobiles, such as Onstar, are starting to provide extensive information on hotels and other services for travelers in their cars.                                   Rev021407