Gilberts: Village laws trump billboard company's desire for 'bigger'
Gilberts village officials want a judge to throw out a lawsuit over billboards placed along Interstate 90, arguing the village board's updated ordinance is sufficient regulation and WC Media's desire for a larger advertisement doesn't trump the village's authority.
The Springfield-based media company sued the village in late 2017, arguing Gilberts is a non-home rule community and cannot ban billboards from being built on land regulated by the state.
WC Media wants to install and maintain up to four 10-by-40-foot billboards off Industrial Drive near I-90 for 20 years.
But in May, the Gilberts village board signed off on a new set of regulations for outdoor advertising that limited billboard sizes to 80 square feet in area, 10 feet in height, and required them to be at least 2,500 feet apart.
Julie Tappendorf, an attorney for the village, also argued that numerous appellate court rulings favored the village's position and affirmed its authority to regulate.
"Plaintiff (WC Media) argues that the sign ordinance prohibits billboards. Plaintiff is simply wrong. The sign ordinance expressly allows billboards in the area regulated by the (state) Highway Act," Tappendorf wrote in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. "Plaintiff's desire to have bigger, brighter and more signs trumps neither the village authority under the Highway Act nor the long line of controlling cases refuting plaintiff's narrow and inaccurate interpretation of the law."
Adam Vaught, attorney for WC Media, argued Gilberts is subject to the state's Highway Act, which in counties of less than 2 million people, allows billboards up to 800 square feet. The village's regulations, he argued, are a de facto ban on billboards.
"No advertiser would invest in a billboard ... next to an interstate that is only 80 square feet and 10 feet high from grade that could not be seen from the interstate," he wrote. "The regulations are so strict that it denies private investments and does not allow billboards to operate in business areas."
The two sides are next due in court on Oct. 3.