City goes after (some) billboards

Something we neglected to pick up from the weekend: According to the Chronicle, the city's attempt to curb the erection of billboards. But before you get too excited, it doesn't mean you'll start seeing less of the giant, landscape-blocking signs anytime soon — the city's current effort is aimed at one company that's putting up billboards just outside the city limit, in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The city is seeking an injunction against RTM Media, which has erected 56 billboards in the extraterritorial jurisdiction that the city claims are eyesores. And it's not the first time RTM has been in trouble with the city: According to city attorneys, the company has gotten hundreds of dollars in fines and more than 1,300 citations since 2004. "The city is extremely concerned that the sign code has been completely ignored by this company, and they continue to erect billboards," Deputy City Attorney Susan Taylor told the Chronicle. The city is trying to get a judge to order RTM to remove the disputed billboards and not erect any more just outside the city limit, but the company has said in court that Houston doesn't have jurisdiction of the area outside its city limit — so we guess the specifics of extraterritorial jurisdiction will be part of the deal here.

However this issue comes out, it raises some interesting points about who can put billboards where: RTM argues that TxDOT, which has issued permits for all its billboards, has sole jurisdiction outside the city limit. And, though Taylor said the city has talked to TxDOT about its position on billboards in the extraterritorial jurisdiction — specifically, most of them have been banned since 1985 — the transportation agency said it can't refuse a permit without a good, state-mandated reason. "We do reject permits if they don't meet requirements under the statutes," Roxie Foster-McKinney of TxDOT's highway beautification division told the Chron. "As long as they meet the criteria ... we're obligated to issue the permits." That could change in September, when a law will go into effect barring the state from permitting billboards that haven't been approved by a city overseeing an extraterritorial jurisdiction.

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Photo: flickr user everett taasevigen