Just spotted this article in the Raleigh News & Observer – the Durham City Council has turned unanimous thumbs down on a proposal to allow digital billboards.
Interesting. Charlotte, of course, allows them, having voted 8-2 in 2007 (council members Michael Barnes and Warren Turner were the “no” votes) to loosen the city’s already loose billboard standards to allow the large and distracting TV-screen like signs.
The article about Durham says Durham’s “City/County Planning Department recommended against the change in a strongly worded presentation that raised concerns about digital signs as motorist distractions and costly litigation that could be invited by tampering with an ordinance the city has already spent more than $1 million defending against industry challenges.”
Other cities that ban digital billboards include Chapel Hill, Morrisville, Cary and Raleigh.