Houston City Council to possibly discuss adding digital billboards throughout the city

Houston City Council may discuss adding digital billboards throughout the city, though no official ordinance has been proposed yet.

What happened

On June 17, Houston’s economic development committee heard a presentation from Clear Channel Outdoor, the company that owns and operates billboards, about creating more digital billboards for Houston.

Lee Vela, vice president of public affairs at Clear Channel Outdoor-Houston, said there were several benefits to digital billboards, such as updated technology, sign reduction and community messaging.

For updated technology, Vela said Clear Channel is proposing a “responsible update” to the city’s sign code that would allow legally permitted signs that already exist to be converted from printed signs to electronic messages.

“You can think of this kind of like having an older model car that had a hand-crank window,” Vela said. “Versus a newer model where you just push a button.”

The signs would be limited to commercial and industrial areas, controlled access interstates, and roadways, and would be a certain distance from other billboards.

This would be done in a phased rollout that would include removing three billboards and adding a digital sign.

“This would dramatically change the urban landscape that we live in,” Vela said.

Vela added that it would also help with community messaging, for example, when critical issues need to be addressed, including health, welfare, safety and events.

How it works

The digital billboards would work in a static rotation where images would change every eight seconds. It would also be able to be updated within two seconds of making an update, and the lights would adjust according to surrounding conditions.

The impact

This would benefit small businesses more because billboards are more affordable than other forms of media, said Lani Ferro, the vice president of public affairs with OutFront Media.

“About 75% of billboard messages are for local businesses,” Ferro said. “They promote those businesses, they help create and support jobs for residents, and they drive sales tax revenue for the city.”

Nonprofits and law enforcement also use digital billboards to promote campaigns or generate funding for nonprofits, Vela said.

“We have had 20 missing Texas children reunited with their families through these billboard messages," Vela said. “Various cities have looked at this as an asset.”

Those in favor

Mel Turnquist, CEO of Texas Center for the Missing, which does the state’s amber alerts, agreed with Vela. She said they have partnered with Clear Channel Outdoor, and it has helped bring missing children home.

The mother of a missing child who was found and returned home said she was sure the billboards helped bring her son home, Turnquist said.

“The use of digital billboards has become essential in our efforts to bring our children home because it works,” she said. “Imagine how much more we can achieve with this kind of coverage inside the city of Houston.”

Those opposed

Council member Sallie Alcorn said she opposes digital billboards because of safety concerns.

“We live in a region that is most dangerous,” Alcorn said. “You look away for two seconds at 65, 75 miles per hour; you’ve gone a football field.”

Ferro said there have been exhaustive studies, including the Texas Department of Transportation, that said digital billboards are “safety neutral.”

During the meeting, Alcorn also brought up concerns about the kinds of advertising that would be on the billboards.

“I don’t want to oversell this whole ‘we’re going to do public safety every second of every day,’ because that’s not what’s happening,” Alcorn said. “I am on the opposing side of this. This is a long conversation that should very much involve the public.”

Stay tuned

No official proposed ordinance was put forth, and council member and committee Chair Martha Castex-Tatum asked if Clear Channel and OutFront Media would be willing to sit with the city and those opposed to digital billboards to draft an ordinance.

Officials with the companies agreed.

No official date has been set for when that meeting will take place.