Judge upholds Gilberts billboard regulations, dismisses lawsuit
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit from a Springfield-based company challenging the village of Gilberts' right to regulate size and scope of billboards in town to 80 square feet.
WC Media sued in late 2017, arguing the village did not have home-rule powers and could not ban billboards from being erected on land owned by the state of Illinois.
WC attorneys argued the company had secured contracts to build and maintain up to four 10-foot by 40-foot billboards off Industrial Drive near Interstate 90 for a period of 20 years.
The company, according to the suit, applied to the Illinois Department of Transportation for permission to erect the 400-square-foot billboards because they would be within 660 feet of Interstate 90 and subject to IDOT permit requirements because of the Highway Advertising Control Act of 1971, the suit argues.
Gilberts village trustees in May 2018 signed off on a new set of rules for outdoor advertising that limited billboard sizes to 80 square feet in total area and stipulated they must be at least 2,500 feet apart. Attorneys for the village argued that previous court rulings and the state's Highway Act supported the village's authority in the matter.
Judge Kevin Busch sided with the village, dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled by WC Media.
"Plaintiff must allege and prove that there are no circumstances under which the ordinance would be valid. Even taking all well-pleaded facts as true, the complaint merely sets forth a claim that conforming signs would be commercially ineffective or undesirable," read part of Busch's ruling. "The allegations and exhibits do not compel the conclusion that a conforming sign would be unviewable, but only that the messages lack a desired advertising impact."
The two sides were due in court this week but that date was canceled after Busch's ruling in March, court records show.
Julie Tappendorf, attorney for the village, said WC Media has appealed but she feels very good about the case going forward.
"We think the case is pretty clear," she said. "The statute says municipalities can restrict the size of billboards."