Local governments win fight over cost of signs' demise

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 10, 2000

TALLAHASSEE -- Hundreds of roadside billboards slated to come down across Tampa Bay still must be removed -- and at no cost to local governments.

A heavy lobbying effort to force local governments to pay for the removal of the roadside signs failed on the final day of the legislative session last week, infuriating the billboard industry and bringing only cautious relief to opponents of the roadside signs.

"The prospect of what could happen next year is frightening," said Bill Jonson, president of Citizens for a Scenic Florida, which opposes billboards. "This almost passed."

For years, governments in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties have fought to remove billboards from local roads. Many governments created ordinances that force billboard advertisers to take down signs after the signs earned revenue for several years, a process called "amortization."

The billboard industry failed to pass a measure that would negate many of the amortization ordinances and force governments to pay to remove the signs, at prices ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000.

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