The latest from City Council President Eric Garcetti's office on the electronic billboard in Silver Lake Boulevard that made everyone go insane: "In response to residents' concerns, Clear Channel has agreed to turn off the sign every evening at midnight and dim by 67 percent the intensity of sign's illumination." Additionally, it looks like the city will try and employ California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in terms of possibly stopping billboard to electronic billboard conversions. Wasn't City Council member Jack Weiss already employing CEQA in terms of the ads/billboards on the Westside? Anyway, a Curbed staffer points out that "CEQA can kill anything."
Garcetti's newsletter in full:
"The City Council's Planning and Land Use Committee has passed President Eric Garcetti's motion to direct the City Attorney to determine whether the electronic billboard conversions can trigger the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The motion is expected to come before the full City Council for a vote next week.
Already, this motion has gotten the attention of Clear Channel, which owns the billboard at Silver Lake and Effie (pictured at left) that inspired Garcetti's motion. In response to residents' concerns, Clear Channel has agreed to turn off the sign every evening at midnight and dim by 67 percent the intensity of sign's illumination.
"This is a temporary solution for this particular location, but does not address the long-term issue of whether the sign is appropriate for the neighborhood. Moreover, we need to address the larger problem of creating a process for the public and City of Los Angeles to influence the locations and technical aspects signs as they are converted in our neighborhoods," said Council President Garcetti. "CEQA would give our communities the process we need to limit the impact of electronic billboards and ensure they occur in appropriate areas. If we can legally use this process, we should."
Under CEQA, projects that may have a significant impact on their surrounding communities must be reviewed through the appropriate public process, which gives neighbors, community advocates, and other stakeholders the opportunity to raise questions and the project's proposer the opportunity to address those concerns and needs before the project is permitted. Requiring a CEQA evaluation would give the public and the City an opportunity to review each proposed conversion's technical aspects such as the frequency of the content changes, illumination intensity, and hours of illumination."For more stories from Curbed LA, go to la.curbed.com.
