A Los Angeles city councilman has proposed the creation of a new billboard district in Koreatown, one that would run 17 blocks from east to west and take in major corridors such as Wilshire and Olympic boulevards.
With a separate downtown billboard district scheduled for a vote next week, the proposal by Councilman Herb Wesson has alarmed anti-billboard activists. They said the city should not allow any more outdoor signs until it can show that it is cracking down on the illegal ones.
One foe warned that a billboard district would force Koreatown residents to keep their blinds closed at night to avoid the glare, especially if some of the signs display electronic images.
"All the side streets are heavily residential," said Dennis Hathaway, a board member with the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight. "If you turn those streets into something like the Ginza [in Tokyo] or Times Square, people in their apartments and houses are going to be experiencing all that light and color."
Wesson argued that a sign district would be a good fit for Koreatown, which has a hopping bar scene and a number of nighttime attractions, such as the Wiltern Theater. With new multistory residential projects going up on and around Wilshire, those who move into the neighborhood won't be surprised to see a greater number of outdoor signs, Wesson said.
"In the event that you do have billboards there, if someone buys a condo or rents an apartment that we build there, they'll know that going in," he said.
The council banned new billboards in 2002 in an attempt to reduce visual blight from city streets. That law created a provision that allowed new signs to go up in entertainment districts and areas with large numbers of pedestrians. At the time, proponents of the ban said the new districts should be used as leverage to persuade advertising companies to remove billboards from other, quieter streets.
Wesson's proposal would join three other sign districts in Los Angeles. Hollywood's sign district takes in eight major corridors, including Hollywood, Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards. Downtown Los Angeles has special zoning that allows billboards around Staples Center and the Nokia Theater. And the council is expected to give final approval next week to a one-block billboard district next to the 10 Freeway.
The city's politicians and business interests have stepped up their interest in outdoor advertising in recent months, looking for ways of bringing new signs to new locations.
