M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E

Information previously distributed / Information distribué auparavant

TO: Chair and Members of Planning Committee

DESTINATAIRE : Président et membre du Comité de l’urbanisme

FROM: John L. Moser Contact : General Manager Arlene Grégoire, Planning and Growth Management Director and Chief Building Official Department Building Code Services Branch 613-580-2424, x41425 arlene.gregoire@.ca

EXPÉDITEUR : John L. Moser Personne ressource : Directeur général, Arlene Grégoire Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance Directrice et chef du bâtiment Direction des services du code de bâtiment 613-580-2424, x41425 [email protected]

DATE: May 5, 2014

5 mai 2014

FILE NUMBER: ACS2014-PAI-PGM-0132

SUBJECT: Review of Digital Billboard Locations in Suburban and Rural Areas

OBJET : Examen de l’emplacement des panneaux d’affichage numérique dans les secteurs suburbains et ruraux

PURPOSE

The purpose of this memo is to update Council on digital billboard location criteria in Orléans, Kanata, Riverside South and and rural areas of the City of Ottawa.

BACKGROUND

At the September 25, 2012 Planning Committee meeting, an amended recommendation was carried to direct the Planning and Growth Management Department to return to Council in Q3 of 2013 with an update on digital billboard location criteria in the suburban and rural areas. This update was subsequently deferred to 2014.

DISCUSSION

The Existing Regulations

Operational and location standards for both conventional and digital billboards are currently regulated by the Permanent Signs on Private Property By-law 2005-439. The By-law was amended in 2012 following a pilot project to allow digital billboards in commercial and industrial zones in the urban and suburban areas, and along in the rural area. These signs are subject to regulations that are intended to safeguard public safety, ensure compatibility with land uses designated by the Official Plan and Zoning By-law and to limit sign proliferation.

Provisions in the By-law that relate to public safety and affect billboard locations include a minimum distance between conventional and digital billboards (150 metres and 300 metres respectively), and a 100 metre setback from intersections. Operational standards (such as dwell times, light intensity, etc.) do not affect where digital billboards can be located, but reduce the risk from the distracting effects of roadside signs.

Other by-law provisions that affect billboard locations are those that limit billboards to certain sign districts and establish setbacks from particular sensitive land uses. Limiting billboards to specific sign districts ensures compatibility of these signs with the land use, and the setbacks from sensitive land uses ensure that the integrity of heritage districts and heritage buildings as well as the environment are not adversely impacted. For example, there are setbacks from residential and institutional land uses, open spaces, heritage buildings and National Historic Sites.

Digital billboard technology is relatively new and there is limited and conflicting information on the impacts of these signs. Because of this, initially in 2012, a conservative, but not unreasonable approach was chosen to digital billboards regulation following an extensive review of practices in other jurisdictions, consultation during the pilot project and information available at the time with respect to safety issues.

The Status of Digital Billboards in Ottawa

The three digital billboards that were part of the pilot project are still in operation, two in the urban area and one on Carp Road. The 2012 report identified twelve locations where existing conventional billboards could be converted to digital in compliance with the new regulations (four of which were in suburban/rural locations). Since then, only one (in an urban location) has been converted. Additionally, there has been one digital billboard installed in a new suburban location, and three other applications issued or pending, one of which is also in a suburban location.

Analysis of Factors Potentially Limiting Billboard Locations

Billboard locations are chosen based a variety of factors, including market criteria and compliance with applicable municipal regulations.

Industry factors include:

 traffic volumes (with heavily travelled streets the prime target). The minimum traffic volumes deemed desirable for the installation of digital billboards is significantly higher than for the installation of conventional billboards;

 demographics (i.e. where is the target market for advertisers and does sign distribution reflect this?);

 whether the potential advertisers are local or national; and

 relative costs of installation of conventional versus digital signs.

Discussions with the sign companies confirm that while interest in digital billboards is growing, conventional billboards remain an important tool in their marketing portfolios and are still the outdoor advertising vehicle of choice for many clients. Despite the advantages that digital billboards offer, not all of their clients want to share billboard space with others (with multiple messages cycling on a single sign) and prefer conventional billboards which display their message to their target audience 100 per cent of the time.

From the sign industry’s perspective, the By-law could be improved to expand opportunities for both conventional and digital billboard placements. The focus is on high traffic locations, and key arterial roads (such as St. Joseph Boulevard, , March Road, , , Greenbank Road, Woodroffe Avenue, etc.) are high on the “wish list”. However, the biggest constraining factor is that in many

cases residential uses are located adjacent to commercial and industrial development along these roadways, and this limits potential locations due to the required setbacks. Rural locations, while of potential interest depending on specific site factors, are not currently a priority for the industry.

In order for these opportunities to be realized, a number of By-law changes would be necessary, such as:

- reduction of setbacks from residential, institutional, environmental protection and open space areas;

- reduction of the minimum distance between billboard signs and ground signs;

- reduction of the setback from intersections for digital billboards; and

- allowance of billboards to be located in more sign districts.

As any of these changes could have negative repercussions for residents and/or public safety, city-wide consultation with all stakeholders and the general public would be a necessary component of a review of the By-law.

Billboards along Highways

There are several provincial highways that run through Ottawa that carry considerable traffic volumes and represent desirable billboard locations from the sign industry’s perspective – Highways 416 and 417, and the newly widened Highway 7. However, these are regulated by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO). MTO has a Sign Corridor Policy prohibiting billboard advertising which faces the highway within 400 metres of Class 1 and 2 controlled access highways (for example, 400 series highways). This policy essentially rules out the placement of billboards along these local provincially regulated highways.

Transportation Association of Canada Report Implications

The City of Ottawa is an active participant in a Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) study on “Digital and Projected Advertising Displays: Synthesis of Practices and Assessment Guidelines” which is formulating guidelines to assist jurisdictions in developing regulations for digital signs and to assist in understanding the potential impact on road safety of these signs. The completed report is expected to be available no sooner than December 2014. The results of the TAC report are crucial to refining

safety-related regulations for digital billboards, and it would be premature for the City to revisit its regulations in advance of it being released.

CONCLUSION

Further review is required prior to recommending new regulations for billboards that would allow more billboards to be located along the City’s arterial roads. The changes envisioned by the industry that would enhance opportunities for new conventional and digital billboard locations in all areas of the city (for example, reductions to the setbacks from residential and other zones) are a potentially controversial departure from existing regulations and would necessitate public consultation with all stakeholders and the general public. Further, as the TAC report and guidelines on digital billboards will not be completed before the end of 2014, consideration of changes to the by-law should be delayed to the next term of Council.

Original signed by

John L. Moser