Company to Swap 36 Old Billboards for Two New Digital Billboards

From a press release from Clear Channel Outdoor:

The city of Long Beach Planning Commission unanimously approved Clear Channel Outdoor’s application for the installation of two new double sided digital billboards within city limits.

The Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of the new boards marks the first new billboard structures approved in Long Beach under the city’s newly adopted comprehensive sign ordinance, passed in July of this year.

As part of the city’s comprehensive sign ordinance, CCO has agreed to take down 36 of its existing billboards within the city in exchange for the new digitals. The agreement is part of a growing nationwide trend, with hundreds of local ordinances now allowing new digital billboards to be built in exchange for takedowns of traditional billboards.

Digital signs provide a unique platform for enhanced creativity and promotional flexibility with commercial messages while also equipping local communities with a valuable real-time messaging service for public safety, emergency response, law enforcement and community building. The City of Long Beach will now benefit from the many advantages these signs offer thanks to its comprehensive sign ordinance.

In addition, the sign industry generates revenues for cities through business license taxes and other fees and creates a wide range of jobs – from highly-skilled technical and digital services positions to maintenance and repair work. As municipalities begin rebuilding from the recession and seeking ways to generate revenue to support important public services, many across the country have begun working with digital sign companies to fill budget gaps and secure new revenues – and Long Beach is a prime example of this work.

In recent years, forward-looking cities, like Long Beach, have implemented legislative solutions to maximize public benefits for their citizens by permitting digital signs in appropriate non-residential locations while also reducing existing traditional signs. Long Beach joins numerous other California cities including, Buena Park, Carson, Industry, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, Compton, Sacramento, Oakland, and Hayward as well as more than 450 municipalities in 43 states that have adopted responsible standards for digital signs.

Clear Channel Outdoor’s digital signs are also regularly used to relay critical public safety information during emergency circumstances; this includes AMBER alerts for child abductions, FBI Most Wanted notices, and messaging from local police and fire departments. The signs were deployed last month in partnership with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Polaris, and regional and local elected officials to launch an anti-trafficking awareness campaign still running on billboards throughout Los Angeles County. CCO also partnered with the Southern California Water Committee (SCWC) this summer to launch a drought awareness and conservation campaign featuring @Lawn_Dude.

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