Despite objections by the North Dallas Neighborhood Alliance and two of our councilmen, Ann Margolin (District 13) and Linda Koop (District 11), the city council voted Wednesday to allow up to 100 digital billboards to go up over the next three years. Members agreed on swapping out 3 square feet of traditional sign space for every 1 square foot of digital sign.

It was District 12 councilman Ron Natinsky who led the committee that came up with the proposal after Clear Channel Outdoor lobbied the council to allow digital billboards in exchange for existing ones. Also, the council approved no more than 25 new digital billboards over three years, and they must be 300 feet from residential property.

The NDNA argued that digital billboards create hazardous distractions to drivers on the freeways that surround our neighborhood. While it wanted to eliminate all digital billboards, the group was ready to agree on an ordinance that required six traditional billboards to come down for every one digital billboard that went up. Also, they must be 1,000 feet from residential property.

The much more liberal ordinance passed 10-3. The only other opponent was District 14 councilman Angela Hunt.