Lombard mayor: Village hearing billboard concerns 'loud and clear'
Lombard trustees are taking time to hear from residents before deciding if they will allow two lighted billboards along I-355 on the village's western edge.
About 20 residents came out Thursday night to reiterate concerns about light pollution, distraction and potential loss of property value they say the billboards could bring.
"This board does not take this lightly," Village President Keith Giagnorio said about the proposal from Lamar Companies of Gary, Indiana, which is scheduled for a vote Nov. 2. "This board is hearing you loud and clear."
Four residents who spoke, led by Christine Behrendt, whose son John Behrendt called her the "grandma of the neighborhood," said they want the village to deny the proposal to locate billboards on the property of the Glenbard Wastewater Authority.
The boards would be two-sided and roughly 75 feet tall along the western edge of the tollway, pending approval by both the village board and the Illinois Department of Transportation. One side of the billboard would be electronic, with messages that could change every 10 seconds, while the other side would be static and illuminated.
Residents living just east of the tollway say the billboards would be a detriment to the village's image and to their quality of life, despite the wooded nature of their properties that could protect them from seeing the signs some months of the year.
"We're fighting to protect our homes, their beauty and the peacefulness of this unique neighborhood," Christine Behrendt said.
In order to approve the billboards, the village board would need to take several procedural steps. Two of them would amend the sign ordinance and the zoning ordinance to create regulations for the billboards; a third would grant a conditional use to allow them to be built.
But the village also would have to rezone the land on which the wastewater treatment plant sits, at 625 W. Glen Oak Road, to industrial instead of conservation/recreation. Industrial zoning is the designation IDOT requires for any site that can host billboards.
Neighbors say switching the land use designation of the village-owned property would set a harmful precedent.
"Nobody wants this property changed from recreation/conservation," resident John Behrendt said. "And we absolutely do not want billboards installed on it."
If Lombard allows the billboards and approves a 20-year lease with Lamar Companies, the village would receive $75,000 per year to be put toward capital expenses at the wastewater treatment plant, which recently has been the source of odor concerns from nearby residents in Glen Ellyn. Other terms of the lease would allow the village and other governments in Lombard to advertise for free on the electronic side of the signs, as space allows, and would lead to the removal of two billboards along Roosevelt Road.
Christine Behrendt encouraged Giagnorio and the village's six trustees to "rise above the financial incentive temptation" and keep the billboards away to benefit both residents and drivers. She said allowing the signs will lead to nothing but "tacky advertisements" and a bright, roadside hazard along a stretch of highway otherwise free from large commercial signs.
"It is our responsibility," she said, "to discourage any more unnecessary distractions on the road."