Aldermen vote to restrict lighted billboards

Haunted by the previous council's OK of a billboard that abuts a residential area, Des Plaines aldermen late Monday voted to limit billboard lighting and direct staff to bar billboards fewer than 300 feet from homes.

Under the plan, lighting would be allowed to spotlight billboards. But it aims to protect homes from the light by setting strict guidelines. It also bars moving or animated billboards.

City Attorney David Wiltse, who expects the new rules to net final council approval next month, said the city currently has no standards for billboard lighting.

The owners of a billboard off River Road and Touhy Avenue haven't put lights on a billboard due to an informal agreement with the city.

The billboard is in an area near I-294 at the site of a printing company, but it also shadows a neighborhood that has been outraged since the sign was built three years ago.

The new rules are aimed at keeping the neighborhood shielded from any billboard lighting, 4th Ward Alderman Jean Higgason said.

City officials also will look at a new law to keep billboards at least 300 feet from residential areas. The proposal will come back to the council for consideration.

Sixth Ward Alderman Mark Walsten, who represents the residents affected by the controversial billboard off River Road, questioned why it couldn't be more than 300 feet.

"Let's see if we can rid of this sign," resident Jerry Peterson said.

The city is in private talks with the billboard company to work out a deal to relocate the sign to an area off Mannheim Road in one of the city's special taxing districts, officials said. That sign is 313 feet away from homes, so barring any billboards more than that would kill the relocation plan, officials said.

If the city were to simply shut down the River Road billboard, officials fear it could open the city up to potential legal action, causing the city to have to shell out as much as $1.5 million to the billboard company.

There's also talk of banning any more billboards in the city; however, there is no formal plan to do so before the city council.

In 2004, Des Plaines reversed earlier decisions to keep billboards out of town. That has created certain limits on how the city can control the signs since billboards are considered a legally protected form of free speech. Since other signs in the city already have lighting, Des Plaines couldn't ban it altogether, Wiltse said.

"Once we opened Pandora's box in 2004, we've got a problem," Wiltse said.

Fifth Ward Alderman Carla Brookman voted against the lighting restrictions, saying the city already had rules regarding signs and lighting but chose not to follow them.

Wiltse said that the city's laws referred to other signs, not billboards.