Washington County, Va., Supervisors Pass Billboard Ban

ABINGDON, Va. – The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 after a public hearing Tuesday to pass an ordinance effectively banning billboards in the county.

"I think that our skyline has to be preserved," said Supervisor Jack McCrady, who represents the tourism-heavy district that includes Damascus. "The folks who ride the Creeper Trail are not interested in these signs; they’re interested in the scenic beauty of Washington County. ... Once we lose our skyline in Washington County, we’ll never get it back."

The ordinance applies to general advertising and location signs, but does not apply to signs advertising a business on the property where the business is located.

The board’s decision follows a Washington County Planning Commission recommendation last week in favor of the ordinance; in February the Town of Abingdon also passed a resolution in support.

The debate was touched off in October when a Glade Spring entrepreneur won approval for more than 20 billboards, which sparked further controversy in December when the signs started going up along the county’s highways.

Billboard owner Bill Roop said now that the ordinance has been passed, he intends to take legal action against anti-billboard protesters if they continue to harass his customers.

"I want it known that all of their protesting at this point should stop and cease when they make threats ... that if people stop buying the billboards, I’ll go out of business and then I’ll have to move out of the county," Roop said after the vote.

"They’re telling people this ... after tonight, if they continue to protest my boards, I will obtain an attorney and go after every one of them."

Roop said about 25 people have been harassing his advertisers, with phone calls and in person, and that they’re hurting not only him but also property owners and advertisers’ employees, by their efforts.At the meeting, six people spoke in favor of the ordinance; none spoke against it.

"What you have to do is look at this in relationship to where you want to be in 20 years, in 30 years," said Henry McCarthy, one of those who spoke. "I can tell you that people come to the mountains because they want to see trees. They want to see something that is more unique than what they’re leaving, from Florida and other areas."

McCarthy said when Boone, N.C., enacted a similar ordinance along a major highway, some people were concerned that it would be bad for business – but their fears never came true.

Annette Poore spoke about her original home in southeastern Virginia and a recent trip to Raleigh, N.C.

"I’m at Anywhere USA," she said. "There’s nothing here that shows me or tells me what the name of this town or community I’m in is. And I really don’t want to see that happen in Washington County.

"These signs are showing more Anywhere USA and a whole lot less Washington County."

Laurel Flaccavento, a local advocate for sustainable-living issues, said the county is becoming too commercialized.

"It seems to me that what’s happening right now is we have a saturation of retail ... we have so many buildings now, so many restaurants, so many shopping malls right now, and these signs are part of that mindless, manic expansion," Flaccavento said. "I think people want a beautiful, wonderful county, like what we have or what we had maybe a few years ago."

"I think we have way too many stores ... if we have more and more and more of this kind of development and more and more signs, I think people are going to move, and I think that people who care about this county and really contribute to this county are going to move," Flaccavento continued.

"I hope you would think about the sign issue but also about what are we doing to preserve this county so that we are not Northern Virginia."

The lone opposition to the ordinance came from Supervisor Paul Price, who has argued from the beginning that it would restrict rights unnecessarily and harm business in a time of recession.

He offered a substitute motion that the issue be put to referendum, but the substitute motion died for lack of a second.

"What I would do is just what those folks say they would do every time some group with strong morals complains about what’s on TV. ... You don’t have to watch it or you can change the channel," Price said. "There are other ways to Bristol [besides billboard-lined U.S. Highway 11]. ... I would say there’s a lot of things along number 11 that looks a lot worse than those signs."

Supervisor Dulcie Mumpower said the ordinance is in line with those passed by other localities; Supervisor Phil McCall said the board was initially overwhelmed by the issue.

Supervisor Tom Taylor said the Internet has eliminated the need for billboard advertising.

"It could be revisited when the [county] comprehensive plan’s rewritten," Board Chairman Kenneth Reynolds said.

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