When Bob Schmidt moved into his East Austin home 17 years ago, the fact that Interstate 35 stood just 100 feet away wasn’t a deal-breaker. Until recently, a row of storefronts buffered his house from the relentless roar of the highway.
Those buildings are now gone as developers prepare for the I-35 Capital Express Central Project, the Texas Department of Transportation’s multibillion-dollar highway expansion project. Schmidt has accepted the highway project he opposed is almost certainly moving forward as planned. What Schmidt has not resigned himself to is what could loom over his house as a result of it: a billboard.
“I love my neighborhood. I love this house, and I love this street,” Schmidt said. “To have that billboard standing…over our street, it would be horrible.”
For decades, Austin has tightly restricted billboards. City code bars them within 500 feet of a residential structure and bans new billboard construction entirely. However, after more than an hour of discussion at a recent Planning Commission meeting, commissioners endorsed making a major change to Austin’s billboard ordinance. Some signs could be relocated much closer to private residences than ever before, potentially as close as 150 feet, when signs are displaced by projects such as the I-35 expansion and Project Connect, the voter-approved transit package that will include a light rail.
The debate centers on what to do with billboards slated for removal to make way for highway and transit construction. The proposed ordinance change would make it easier for sign owners to move their billboards rather than remove them, even if that means placing them nearer to residential neighborhoods.
“Billboards have all sorts of controversial, weird things on them, and I don’t want that up here for the kids that play on the block, for our families. I don’t want that in my neighborhood,” Schmidt said. “This is going to hurt our property values like crazy.”
The Texas Department of Transportation said 13 billboards will be moved to make way for the expanded highway through the heart of Austin. City staff were unable to answer how many billboards would need to be moved for Project Connect.
“None of us likes billboards,” said Planning Commission Chair Alice Woods. “None of us likes having this debate, but we really want to prioritize making our public transit possible.”
Austin’s billboard rules date back to 1983, when the city banned off-premise signs, or billboards advertising something not located on the property where the sign stands. No new billboard has been erected since then, making existing signs a limited resource in the city. About 580 were scattered across Austin at the time of the ban, the same number that exists today. City code also prohibits billboards along about two dozen scenic roadways across the city.
If the city removes one of the existing off-premise signs, state law would require the owner to be compensated. Under the relevant law, the compensation is set at three times the sign’s “annual gross revenue.” According to outdoor marketing agency Alluvit Media, the average Austin billboard costs around $6,000 a month.
Beyond the cost of removing signs, Commissioner Adam Powell said he suspects the city is also trying to avoid potential legal battles tied to forced removals.
“We’re all having to sort through a situation that has been pushed upon us,” Powell said.
Powell was one of two dissenting votes against the recommendation to allow billboards to be moved closer to residences. He said commissioners likely made the best decision available, but he opposed the change because of what it could mean for nearby neighbors.
“This is bad for everyone, but what’s going to make it harder to sleep at night is the impact on residents,” Powell said. “These people didn’t ask for a billboard in their backyards.”
Austin Current reached out to Reagan Outdoor Advertising about the company’s billboards that would need to be moved, but did not receive a response.
The recommendation now heads to the Austin City Council, which will decide whether to change the ordinance. In a statement to Austin Current, Council Member Zo Qadri, who represents the district where some neighbors are likely to be affected, said he shares Schmidt’s and other neighbors’ concerns.
“Any proposal to relax billboard relocation restrictions must be considered in the context of the equitable, people-oriented places we are trying to create in the heart of Austin,” Qadri said. “I am continuing to meet with impacted constituents and work with City staff to better understand this proposal and ensure we are protecting Austin’s quality of life and neighborhood character.”
