Scenic Nevada has filed a lawsuit against the City of Reno in an attempt to limit the number of billboards within city limits. Judge Scott Freeman turned the battle of billboards into a three way conversation on Monday, when he granted billboard proponent Lamar Central Outdoor a voice in the case.
"That's important for us, Scenic Nevada is trying to eliminate a number of banked receipts that were issued from 2000 until the digital ordinance was adopted in 2012," says Lamar Central Outdoor attorney Severin Carlson.
These banked receipts that Carlson refers to are issued to billboard owners who have no place to put a torn down sign. The receipt can then be used once another location to build is determined. Scenic Nevada attorney Mark Wray disagrees that these receipts should be able to be used at all.
"We feel very strongly about what the people voted for which is that there will be no more billboards built in the city of Reno and today is an opportunity for us to have the court look at what we've been saying and enforce the people's vote, says Wray.
Wray is referencing a year 2000 ballot initiative when citizens voted to prohibit the construction of new billboards. In February, the City of Reno decided that companies could build standard billboards for the next year, but that doesn't include digital signs. City attorney Chandeni Sendall says digital billboards are the real conflict in this case.
"Both of these parties care about digital billboards, Scenic Nevada doesn't want them, Lamar wants nothing more than to have them,” says Sendall.
In August, the Reno city council could decide the future of digital billboards when a new ordinance is drafted. Judge Freeman did not make a final decision for the case on Monday.
