However, a community that wishes to explore such an arrangement should review take-down ratios negotiated in other cities, which can vary widely, to arrive at the best solution.

Instead of allowing digital billboard conversions, Scenic America recommends communities explore bans on digital billboards. In April 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a community’s right to ban digital billboards in a landmark case, Austin v. Reagan. The ruling was upheld in 2023 in a similar case in Madison, WI.

Billboard Removal

Though federal law prohibits the use of amortization on Interstate and federal-aid primary highways, some cities have successfully used amortization to reduce visual pollution on local roads. The billboard industry has challenged these ordinances in the North Carolina and United States Supreme Courts, but both ordinances have been upheld.

One of the largest cleanups of visual pollution undertaken by an American city resulted in the removal of more than 1,000 billboards in Jacksonville, FL, after a fervent anti-billboard movement swept the city starting in 1987.

Some cities use an exchange ordinance to diminish visual blight. Exchange provisions require billboard companies to remove one or more existing nonconforming billboards before they erect a new, conforming billboard in another location. While not generally desirable, a carefully targeted exchange ordinance can remove billboards from “visually sensitive” areas like historic districts, downtown cores, town gateways, and areas with scenic mountain or ocean views. Mobile, AL, successfully removed billboards from its historic district with this approach.

Amortization and Signage

The most effective way to remove signs is by passing an ordinance that requires the removal of all billboards in your community by a given time, typically five to seven years. This is a process known as amortization.

Most states allow amortization, and you should pursue this option for billboard removal if it is permitted in your state.

After your community has secured a ban on new billboards it should enact legislation to promote alternatives to billboard blight such as logo signs and tourist-oriented directional signs (TODS). Logo signs and TODS display only essential traveler information and are smaller, less obtrusive, more affordable and easier to read than billboards. Logo signs advertise gas, food, camping, and lodging at nearby highway exits. TODS are used on non-interstate highways and supply information about local tourist attractions, such as distances and directions.

Community-Based Tools for Billboard and Sign Control

Education

Informing people of the value of billboard control, especially its beneficial effect on local economies and tourism spending, is one of the best ways to build community support for fighting billboard blight. Studies have repeatedly shown that scenic areas and beautiful communities are the places where people most want to live, work, and visit. Some common types of educational outreach include speaking to community and business groups, social media campaigns, outreach to online community groups, publishing articles in your local newspaper, and holding community workshops.

Voluntary

Beautification projects are a good way to fight billboard blight, build civic pride, encourage investment, and attract tourism. Volunteer efforts to reclaim beauty and restore local character encourage citizens to take pride in their area by refusing to use billboards for commercial or public service advertising; urging landowners near roadways and commercial centers not to permit billboards on their property; and establishing an awards program to recognize people that have worked to rid their community of billboard blight.

Incentive-Based

Incentives can provide significant motivation for improving local appearance and encouraging people to fight billboard blight. Small grants to community groups undertaking beautification projects, low advertising rates on billboard alternatives like logo signs or tourist-oriented directional signs, and tax breaks for landowners that agree to keep their property billboard free can make a big difference in how a community looks.