Chron wants something done about billboards

The Chron editorialized about the Mayor's billboard reduction proposal that has been put off until some kinks an be ironed out. I'm still not quite sure what they said, however.

The mayor said he shares the same goal as opponents of his proposal: reducing the number of billboards in Houston. He said he wants to use this common ground to craft a consensus.

During the ensuing negotiations, White should answer the charge that most of the 881 billboards would come down anyway by 2013, without having to allow hundreds of new billboards in locations now free of the large signs, or along federal highways where they would be protected in perpetuity.

Beautification groups should explain why, if the small billboards are no longer profitable, they still blight low-income neighborhoods.

Unsightly billboards detract from Houston's quality of life and contributed to the failure of its bid to host the 2012 Olympics. The city should pursue the strategy that will reduce the most billboards in the next few years without presenting hundreds of billboards a new lease on life and their owners' permission to blight locations now billboard-free.

Identifying that strategy will be the task of White's administration and billboard opponents.

I think they're saying "We want fewer billboards faster, and we want you guys to figure out how to do it." Well, I guess you can't argue with that.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 31, 2007 to Elsewhere in Houston