The city sent McNeilly an order to remove his supergraphic at 4929 Wilshire on Dec. 29, three days after the temporary ban went into effect. Since that order went out, four additional Statue of Liberty supergraphics have gone up on the same building, each of them at least six stories tall.
McNeilly said Collins would decide in the next few weeks whether to allow him to keep supergraphics on 115 more buildings. And so far, Collins has shown little confidence in the constitutionality, and effectiveness, of L.A.'s billboard bans.
"The city has taken a disjointed and, at times, seemingly capricious approach to the proliferation of billboards in Los Angeles," she wrote this week. "The city has initiated enforcement actions as to some billboards, but not others, and has agreed to stay enforcement of its regulations against certain billboard companies, but not against others."
Another federal judge ruled against Los Angeles last year in a case filed by Metro Lights, an advertising company that argued that the city's sign ban was unconstitutional because advertising is still allowed on city-owned bus benches and kiosks. That ruling was overturned this month by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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david.zahniser@latime.com
