Billboards keep place in Valley

Billboards in Spokane Valley are here to stay under the latest revisions to the city’s comprehensive plan.

In a 4-3 decision, the City Council removed language added by the Planning Commission that eventually would have reduced their number.

“I think that billboards do have their rightful place in certain designated zones,” Councilman Steve Taylor said.

His council colleagues Mike DeVleming, Rich Munson and Diana Wilhite agreed, and the plan now includes the “cap-and-replace” policy currently on the books, which prohibits new billboards but allows those already in existence to be replaced indefinitely.

The billboard debate has been ongoing in Spokane Valley, even before the city incorporated in March 2003. County commissioners originally suggested a billboard ban and held an advisory vote on the issue in 2002.

Councilman Bill Gothmann cited the 57 percent support for the county measure and a recent survey with similar findings as he argued for a capping policy.

“Those are two very strong suggestions,” said Gothmann, who was on the Planning Commission when it reviewed the comprehensive plan.

But voters might have felt differently, Munson replied, if they knew that a ban would invoke costly lawsuits from billboard corporations.

Supporters of a cap-and-replace policy also alluded to property rights and the subjective nature of determining what is aesthetically pleasing.

The council will continue its deliberations on the comprehensive plan at several regular and special council meetings in the future. It hopes to adopt it by March.