Wenatchee City Council Votes Down Digital Sign Swap Deal

The Wenatchee City Council has rejected a proposal the City was negotiating with an outdoor advertising company to remove several billboards and replace them with a new digital electronic sign similar to one on Wenatchee Avenue neat the intersection at Miller Street.

The city passed an ordinance in 2019 calling for the elimination of all billboards by 2030. The council vote Thursday night was to amend that ordinance and allow a new Outfront Media to add a double-sided digital sign in exchange for the removal of seven of it's traditional signs.

The vote was unanimous and Council member Linda Herald said the public was clear.  "The number one comment that I hear is that people want the beautification of our streets.  Billboards don't beautify the streets."

New council member Charlie Atkinson echoed Herald's opinion.  "There has been more public response against this than anything else that's been on the agenda since I've been here in the nine months."

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The proposed amendment for the sign swap plan with Outfront Media was mediated  for four years after the advertising company appealed the city's 2019 ordinance to the Growth Management Hearings Board in 2020.

A representative with Outfront Media warned the council before their vote, the decision could lead to a costly compensation payments to outdoor advertising companies for the taking of property.

A representative of Lamar Outdoor Advertising told the council it would be interested in a similar deal to remove some of it's billboards and add a digital sign if the amendment was passed.