San Francisco Loses Round in Legal Fight Over “Mom and Pop Store” Billboards

Dennis Hathaway over at Ban Billboard Blight has reduced the ruling between Contest Promotions and the city of San Francisco to a manageable read. While Los Angeles and New York are yet to confront Contest Promotions and the twisting of legal language for their own devices, this ruling does not bode well for either city. We can take some comfort in the fact that in New York at least, a large portion of NPA's (now Contest Promotions) street level billboards have been removed and they have stopped Wildposting every construction shed in the city with illegal commercial content. We will keep you posted if either LA or New York decides to challenge Contest Promotions in an effort to clean up our city and prevent outdoor advertising firms from determining how our public spaces are used with little consideration for the rights of the residents or for the efficacy of our city government in controlling commercial interests.

VIA Ban Billboard Blight

In 2002, voters in San Francisco overwhelmingly approved a no-exceptions ban on all new billboards and other forms of off-site advertising. However, last week an L.A.-based sign company won a ruling in federal court that could seriously undermine that ban, and may have implications for the effort to limit outdoor advertising here in Los Angeles. [More Here]