Commission Approves Moratorium On Billboards

bhcityhall2-18
bhcityhall2-18

Benton Harbor City Commissioners have approved a six month moratorium on new billboards. At a Monday meeting, Mayor Marcus Muhammad read from the resolution stating the ban on new off-premises advertisements is to be in effect while a review is conducted. It said the city “intends to conduct a review of its various sign ordinances to ensure the furtherance of the city’s master plan and to address the city’s concerns of visual blight, traffic, health, safety, and welfare issues that have emerged with regulated and unregulated off-premises advertisement signs/billboards or similar structures and certain off-premises signs.” The city attorney said the moratorium would ban new billboards for six months, and could be extended up to a year. The action to approve the moratorium came just before commissioners went into closed session to hear an update on Adams Outdoor Advertising’s lawsuit against the city over its proposed digital billboard on Main Street. However, commissioners came out of the closed session on that matter and took no further action.