Photo: CBC News Nova Scotia
“People driving on the south shore of Nova Scotia might feel a little lost after seeing a bewildering road sign near Port Mouton…
The sign — on Highway 103 a few kilometres before exit 21 — appeared in late August when, according to the Department of Transportation, a local Best Western took down its billboard, revealing the patchwork underneath…”
— CBC News, Nova Scotia
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Photo: Google Maps, Art: The Real Deal
“The owner of a commercial building in the Miami Design District is suing the city for approving a billboard ban that allegedly sunk the value of the property by nearly $5 million.
Karenza Apartments LLP, which owns the building at 100 Northeast 38th Street, alleges it also lost a lucrative contract with a billboard advertiser after city commissioners passed the measure that prohibits billboards north of I-95, at the behest of Miami Design District developer Craig Robins of Dacra…
According to the complaint, the city commission passed the ban on second reading on July 27, 2017, about a year after it was introduced by Commissioner Keon Hardemon at Robins’ request. At the time, Karenza had an agreement with Becker Boards Miami to place a large mural above its one-story property, which is currently occupied by the offices of architecture firm Shulman + Associates. Karenza’s building was one of three properties in the Design District with billboard permits, the lawsuit states.
Karenza claims the city commission ignored a planning and zoning appeals board recommendation that its building be grandfathered in because the proposed measure included an exemption for one of the other neighboring billboard properties, at 3704 Northeast Second Avenue…
On Aug. 26, 2017, when the ban took effect, Becker Boards Miami relocated its mural to a property south of I-195 since Karenza’s property was no longer allowed to have billboards. Karenza is suing the city for $4.8 million in damages, which represents the dollar amount of the property’s diminished value, the suit states…”
— Francisco Alvarado, Research Haru Coryne, The Real Deal South Florida Real Estate News
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Photo: Markelle Maddock via WTSP Channel 10 News
“The poor dog definitely isn’t feeling the Christmas spirit. [The main character on one of the billboards] Corgi is hungry for some burgers and fries, but be warned in case you join him for dinner: ‘Satan is the one true god.’
Let’s just hope ‘password’ wasn’t the password to gain access to this seemingly hacked billboard posted up on U.S. Route 441 in central Florida.
An eagle-eyed driver and her boyfriend heading home for Christmas spotted the sign and claims to have caught a message that just didn’t seem right: a gorilla saying he’s been a naughty boy (plus a word not appropriate on this family-friendly news site).
Markelle Maddock made a U-turn to try and catch it again…
And another, with maybe a word or two of advice from a Twitter user who knows a thing or two about hacking billboards across the country: “These people think connecting a billboard to the internet is a good idea. These people are wrong.”
‘I understand where people could get offended, especially with the ‘Satan is the one true god,’ but it made for a good laugh and I’ll always remember it,’ Maddock said.
She adds the billboard since has been turned off.”
— Andrew Krietz, WTSP Channel 10 News
Photo: Wikipedia
“Okaloosa County officials hope a new public beach safety campaign will help educate visitors about the beach flag warning system, Gulf of Mexico currents and marine life…
On Tuesday, the County Commission unanimously approved spending up to $200,000 in TDD promotional reserve funds for the new beach safety campaign.
The funding includes $119,217.50 that will be paid to St. Petersburg-based Aqua Marketing & Communications for billboard advertising.
Digital and vinyl billboards containing information about the beach flag system, currents and marine life are planned to be installed at various locations…
Adams said the exact locations of the billboards are being negotiated…
In addition, the campaign will feature location-based, digital beach safety alerts that will appear on smartphones once drivers enter a ‘geo-fence,’ which is a virtual boundary around a real-world geographic area…
Such push notifications could include ‘Welcome to Destin-Fort Walton Beach. Red flags are flying,’ Adams said.”
— Tony Judnich,nwfDailyNews.com
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Verdian group has just published an up-to-date Compendium of billboard traffic safety research which includes information on 22 studies conducted worldwide between 2008-2018.
The most recent study from Belgium (2018) adds to the growing body of evidence that roadside digital billboards do distract motorists from the task of driving.
Photo: Scott Rogers, Gainsville Times
“Gainesville officials have reached a compromise to allow digital billboards within the city limits after nearly three years of negotiations and threats of a lawsuit.
Close to 70 billboards are located in Gainesville, with the vast majority owned by Fairway Outdoor Advertising.
Fairway owns an additional 32 billboards across Hall County, where digital billboards are allowed…
Limits on brightness, transition time between advertisements and the distance between billboards were major considerations for city officials.
City officials also wanted to reduce the number of billboards altogether…
Fairway had previously submitted 15 applications for permits to convert existing “static” billboards into digital displays, all of which were denied.
Fairway then threatened to file a lawsuit.
‘We had been negotiating for quite some time,’ City Manager Bryan Lackey said. ‘I thought things were progressing well. Before they dropped the threat of litigation, they didn’t want any restrictions on timing.’
City officials were willing to give Fairway several years to make the conversions…
The agreement, which City Council approved this week, requires that Fairway must remove two existing billboards for every digital billboard it converts within the first two years.
That means, according to the terms obtained by The Times, that Fairway will remove 14 “static” billboards and convert another seven to digital displays.
After the second year, Fairway has an indefinite amount of time to remove 18 existing billboards and convert just five.
The digital displays cannot exceed 300 square feet in size and their height is limited to 35 feet; must use brick or stone around base poles to a height of 10 feet to improve aesthetic; and must be placed on or within 50 feet of an existing spot.
Moreover, displays must last at least 10 seconds and the transition between messages can be no more than two seconds. There can be no flashing or scrolling advertisements, and there are limits on brightness, as well…”
— Joshua Silavent, Gainesville Times