Redondo Beach : Billboard Ban Delayed

The City Council rejected a recommendation to ban billboards Tuesday night and sent the issue back to the Planning Commission to see if representatives of the billboard industry and the city’s planning staff can agree on a compromise.

Representatives from Foster & Kleiser and Gannett Outdoor, two companies with billboards in Redondo Beach, asked to meet with planning officials to draft an ordinance that would allow some billboards. The Planning Department and the Planning Commission had recommended that billboards be banned, arguing that they are larger and less regulated that other commercial signs and contribute to visual blight on commercial strips.

The council, while acknowledging that billboards are unattractive, argued that the companies deserve a chance to present their proposals to planning officials before a ban is imposed. An emergency moratorium on large billboards has been in effect since March.

“It is no more than fair to allow them to have their say,” said Councilwoman Kay Horrell. City Manager Timothy Casey said the staff will report to the council in three months.