Salt Lake City Mayor Becker's Electronic Billboard Ban Deeply Concerns YESCO and Other Local Organizations

4/01—Salt Lake City, Utah

 

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker’s plan to ban electronic billboards is deeply concerning to Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) and other local organizations.

YESCO, a local family sign business established in 1920, is headquartered in Salt Lake City. YESCO manages YESCO Outdoor Media and YESCO Electronics. YESCO Outdoor Media operates electronic billboards throughout Utah.  YESCO Electronics is the largest provider of electronic billboards in the country and the sole provider of electronic billboards in Utah. YESCO Electronics’ sole manufacturing facility is located in in Logan, Utah.

In 2002, YESCO installed its first digital billboard in Salt Lake City along I-15.   The business has since become a worldwide enterprise. “Despite the recession, our electronic billboard business has solidified and strengthened us as a Utah company,” said Michael Young, President of YESCO.  “Because of the growth in the electronic billboard business, YESCO’s statewide presence has expanded over the past five years, with new manufacturing facilities in Salt Lake, Logan, and St. George,” he said.  “YESCO works closely with the Utah Manufacturers Association and local communities, investing in model manufacturing facilities, providing good jobs, and nationally recognized quality products,” added Thomas Bingham, President of the Utah Manufacturers Association.

YESCO employs over 575 individuals in Utah and approximately 1,500 nationwide.

YESCO joined forces with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI to provide AMBER Alerts, Most Wanted Ads, and other public service announcements on electronic billboards throughout the country. “Seconds count when an AMBER Alert is issued and electronic billboards are the best way and sometimes the only way to show motorists a picture of an abducted child.  The Utah AMBER Alert Plan relies on these billboards to be available 24/7 so we can bring every abducted child home safely,” said Paul Murphy, Utah AMBER Alert Coordinator.

Electronic billboards are not allowed to flash or have any motion.  “Electronic billboard advertisements must remain still for at least eight seconds according to state law and guidance from the Federal Highway Administration,” said Michael Wardle, Government Relations Manager for YESCO.  “The brightness of electronic billboards is carefully controlled within regulatory constraints that we volunteered to impose on ourselves. We believe that the proper regulation of electronic billboards is important; but bans or de facto bans on any respected business are not good for the community,” he said.

Numerous traffic safety studies show that electronic billboards do not pose a threat to driver safety. Public opinion studies show that most individuals view electronic billboards favorably.

Some City officials have asserted that electronic billboards make Salt Lake City look like Las Vegas. “To compare a few electronic billboards in Salt Lake City to the numerous, large-scale, full-motion video signs in Las Vegas is an exaggeration,” said Rod Wardle, General Manager of YESCO Electronics, who oversees the installation of digital signs in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and other locations throughout the world. “The difference is obvious,” he said.

Jared Johnson, YESCO Outdoor Media’s Director of Real Estate has participated in numerous public meetings since the ban was proposed in late 2010. “We’ve worked diligently with the Salt Lake City Planning Commission to develop reasonable regulations for electronic billboards, but we haven’t made much progress. Based on my observation at the public hearings on this issue, there have been no complaints recorded, and therefore no justification for a ban or severe regulation,” he said.

A public hearing on Mayor Becker’s proposed ban will be held on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 315, Council Chambers, City County Building, 451 South State, Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

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