Existing billboard rules will be continued

In a 4-3 decision Tuesday, the Spokane Valley City Council voted formally to reaffirm existing billboard rules after confusion on whether a cap on the number of billboards would allow them to be relocated.

Councilman Rich Munson brought the topic to the floor again after saying he didn’t realize that the billboard rules, which the council agreed to by consensus at an earlier meeting, would allow existing signs to be rebuilt elsewhere in the city.

“The numbers are irrefutable; people don’t like billboards,” he said, referring to a 2002 Spokane County advisory vote.

At the same time, though, Munson said it wasn’t the city’s place to shut down a business it didn’t care for.

“We can’t do it with DéjÀ Vu or anybody else, so why can we do it with billboards?” he asked.

Munson suggested a billboard policy that would allow the existing signs be rebuilt only at their current locations.

In earlier discussions the council rejected a Planning Commission recommendation that would prevent the signs from being rebuilt at all and eventually eliminate them.

To a majority on the council, though, restrictions on their total number go far enough.

“They would have to be able to come up with a lease where they were going to, and it would have to be in a zoned area where they allow signs,” Councilman Mike DeVleming said.

Mayor Diana Wilhite with councilmen DeVleming, Steve Taylor and Gary Schimmels voted to uphold the policy that allows billboards to be moved while Councilmen Munson, Bill Gothmann and Dick Denenny voted against it.