Georgia House allows faster billboard changes but keeps distance limit

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Posted 3:31PM on Monday, January 28, 2002

ATLANTA - Billboards that change messages could switch faster under a bill passed by the Georgia House on Monday, but lawmakers shied away from a distance reduction that had garden clubs across the state fuming. The House voted 98-66 to allow tri-fold billboards to change messages every six seconds, instead of the 10-second minimum now. A similar version passed the Senate last year. But House members would not agree to a portion of the Senate bill that would allow tri-fold billboards every 3,000 feet, down from the current 5,000 feet. Opponents said the bill would clutter highways with more billboards. Rep. DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, warned House members that they would hear from the state's 16,000 garden club members if they reduced the distance minimum. ``I'm telling y'all it's a big deal with your garden clubs back home, urban and rural,'' DuBose said. The Garden Club of Georgia is the nation's oldest garden club and a serious political force. The club successfully sued the state Department of Transportation last year to force it to charge sign companies market price for cutting trees in front of billboards along state roads. ``Us garden clubbers, we vote,'' said member Rachel Fowler, who came to the Capitol to watch the vote. Sign companies ``have the money, but we pay attention and we vote,'' she said. The bill now heads back to the Senate, which will vote on whether to agree with the House changes. Some House members said a distance reduction could possibly decrease the number of billboards because three messages could fit on one sign. Standard billboards with one advertisement may be placed every 500 feet, so supporters said the more tri-fold billboards on highways, the fewer total signs. Other supporters said billboards are vital to the economy of small towns that depend on them to steer traffic off the interstates to their businesses. Towns along Interstate 75, from Macon to the Florida line, are especially dependent on travelers, said Rep. Robert Ray, D-Fort Valley. ``It certainly helps people in those towns beside the interstate,'' Ray said. ``If it weren't for signs they wouldn't know we had outlet centers. They would not know we had motels and restaurants. ... It helps every taxpayer because it helps bring more revenue from people who come into this state.''