5 Illegal Billboards In Oregon -- But Court Cases May Keep Advertisements Up For Years

MEDFORD, Ore. - Oregon has one of the strictest billboard-control laws in the nation, but that hasn't stopped an outdoor advertising company from putting up 14 signs illegally along Interstate 5 in Southern Oregon.

And despite administrative rulings that 11 of the billboards must be removed, state transportation officials have yet to tear down a single sign.

At issue is a flurry of lawsuits filed in state and federal courts on behalf of Outdoor Media Dimensions of Medford, which owns 12 of the illegal signs and is an investor in two others. The state has agreed not to remove the signs until the court cases are resolved, which could take years.

Billboard critics say Outdoor Media's legal strategy is a tried-and-true method employed by renegade outdoor advertising companies across the nation.

"While they're suing and losing, their billboards are standing and earning. For the billboard companies, lawsuits are just a cost of doing business," said Frank Vespe, vice-president of Scenic America of Washington, D.C., which lobbies against billboards. "This is the most cynical and disgraceful tactic - the use of the court system to browbeat communities and states into doing what the billboard industry wants."

But Outdoor Media owner Jeff Herson prefers to cast himself as a champion of free speech and an enemy of state-sanctioned monopolies.

The problem, he says, is that Oregon's billboard law is unconstitutional because the statute regulates what signs can say.

"The state doesn't care about the number of signs. They only care about what's on the sign," Herson said. "Certain messages can be displayed on any number of signs, but other messages aren't allowed on any signs."

For example, the law allows a temporary billboard advertising the Oregon State Fair to be erected without a permit on state highways, but a billboard advertising the Shrine Circus would require a state permit. And while temporary political signs related to a specific election - "Elect Jane Doe" - can be erected without a permit, political signs voicing a general sentiment - "Peace now" - would require a state permit.

Herson cites a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a municipal sign ordinance in Missouri. The Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center characterizes that ruling this way: "While governments may regulate the physical characteristics of signs, they may not allow some signs and ban others based on their content."

Oregon's strict billboard laws followed passage of the federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965, championed by former first lady Lady Bird Johnson.

The Legislature in 1975 passed a law requiring permits to erect billboards on state highways and limiting the number of billboards to 2,271. The state bought and removed 2,031 other billboards.

Two companies - AK Media Northwest and Outdoor Systems - now own 78 percent of Oregon's billboard permits, including 816 for standing billboards and 541 for unbuilt billboards. AK Media Northwest is owned by Barry Ackerley, owner of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Businesses priced out of market

Although 663 permits are available for unbuilt billboards in Oregon, Herson says the $45,000 to $75,000 fee prices little guys out of the market.

Local Outdoor Media advertisers say the state-created billboard monopoly has created an uneven playing field that's bad for local businesses. Bill Woodhead, owner of the Best Western Inn at the Rogue in Rogue River, waited two years to get an ad into the Interstate 5 corridor, which is the lifeblood of his business.

"There was not a billboard to be had between Red Bluff and Eugene. I suffered for two years without a billboard until we were finally able to get one up south of Roseburg," he said. "People who have billboards stay with them."

Not only are new businesses shut out of the billboard market, he said, but everybody pays higher prices because of the artificial scarcity.

Billboards are here to stay

No matter which way the courts rule in Outdoor Media's federal and state lawsuits, Herson's lawyer and father Alan Herson says Outdoor Media's billboards along Interstate 5 in Southern Oregon are here to stay.

"These signs will never come down because, even if we were to lose our cases in court, all that would happen is that the big outdoor advertising companies would just take over. They'd buy them from Jeff's company. They would take over and continue with those signs," Alan Herson said.

Billboard industry giant Outdoor Systems owns permits for 38 unbuilt billboards in Southern Oregon, more than enough to cover Jeff Herson's 14 now-illegal signs.

"The issue is not whether or not these signs will come down," Alan Herson said. "The real issue is who's going to own them in the future."