The El Paso County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 on Thursday to approve two electronic billboards along Highway 24 – one in Cascade, and one near Red Rock Canyon Open Space. The advocacy group Friends of Red Rock Canyon urged community members to oppose the electronic billboard.
“We are against this proposal, for many reasons, which include not fitting into the recreational experiences Red Rock Canyon offers,” read a Sept. 3 email from the group. “The electronic billboard will be seen by those using the Open Space. The property is in unincorporated El Paso County, completely surrounded by the cities of Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. Both cities do not allow Electronic Billboards. When Red Rock Canyon was purchased by the City of Colorado Springs over 20 years ago, leases on two existing billboards at the Highway 24 entrance were left to expire. The City of Colorado Springs then took down the billboards. Electronic signs will distract drivers turning left into Red Rock Canyon.”
Justin Johnson with Lamar Advertising explained the benefits of Electronic Messaging Displays (EMDs) to the County Commissioners. “EMDs offer a wide range of benefits, where a traditional sign serves only one advertiser, EMDs allow us to showcase up to eight businesses,” he said. “This makes advertising more accessible to small businesses in El Paso County. It also allows us to provide more time for non-profit messaging. We utilize open space [in the EMD] for amber alerts, FBI most wanted notices, emergency weather alerts, so I’d say that the conversion of the billboards helps us support the community beyond just advertising. I know that lighting is often a concern. This sign is programmed to dim automatically based on ambient light. It will not exceed 500 nits [a unit of luminance that measures the light emitted from a surface, equivalent to one candela per square meter] at night. It has an automatic shutoff feature if it malfunctions. Each message will stay on screen for at least eight seconds. There is no flashing, there is no video, there’s no animation. We worked with Dectronics to complete a photometric analysis of the emergency plans that both the county and the city have to standards. Under normal operating conditions, this sign is fully compliant with county standards.”…