Billboard Advertiser to Pay City but Keep Many of Its Illegal Billboards Up

Someone has defaced this Clear Channel billboard. The company will take down about half of its billboards in Miami.

While Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have banned billboards outright, billboards remain a contentious legal issue in many states. Take Florida, for instance, and Miami, in particular. The city bars outdoor ads from main streets, but Miami failed to enforce or ignored billboard laws in the 1990s, which resulted in hundreds of billboards going up. Recent efforts to rid the city of these strongly visual violations have been held up in the courts. However, there is a proposed settlement between the city and one of the main culprits Clear Channel, which the city is expected to accept. Clear Channel Communications will pay the city $1.3 million (for legal and miscellaneous fees) and $250,000 for 25 years. The advertiser will also remove hundreds of billboards. Back on track, right? Hardly. Clear Channel will only get rid of about half of its billboards, starting with the smaller ones (the less profitable).

A similar deal was made last year with Carter Outdoor Advertising.

Some people think Miami wins with such deals, like Clear Channel Outdoor and Miami?EUR??,,????'???s city manager. Others, though, think the city is selling out and only getting rid of the ?EUR??,,????'??baby billboards,?EUR??,,????'?? while allowing large, free-standing ones to remain and be upgraded.