A portrait of Jason Hemp near a digital billboard, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, in Santa Clara, Calif. Hemp of the No Digital Billboards in San Jose campaign, has been a vocal opponent against the building of digital billboards.

A digital billboard seen off of U.S. Route 101, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, in San Carlos, Calif.

More than 92% San Jose residents and business owners surveyed last year opposed building new digital billboards along the city’s freeways. So why are officials pushing forward a plan to add two double-sided electronic billboards between the city’s airport and Highway 101?

The San Jose City Council is expected to vote on the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting, debating whether the opportunity to bring in some revenue for Mineta San Jose International Airport is worth the possible environmental impact — and the displeasure of hundreds of thousands of city residents.

“Obviously, we’ve heard a lot of public opposition to the proposal and we’re just going to have to weigh all those various factors and decide what the best overall approach for these billboards and the overall policy is,” San Jose City Councilmember David Cohen said at an Airport Commission meeting in January.

The proposal from media company Clear Channel offers to take down four dilapidated billboards for every digital billboard that goes up, and is expected to bring in $490,000 in annual revenue to the airport, according to the San Jose Airport Commission.

Clear Channel plans to automatically dim the billboards during the evening, turn off the display between midnight and 6 a.m. and only use still content on the advertisements.

But an array of airport commissioners, astronomers, environmental activists, preservationists and San Jose residents say that isn’t enough. In the city’s survey of more than 2,200 residents and business owners, more than 92% of respondents opposed building new digital billboards along the city’s freeways.

The San Jose Airport Commission voted 5-1 to reject the proposal in January, citing concerns over light pollution, the Guadalupe River (which runs next to the airport) and questionable financial returns.

Clear Channel would also be the only company given the chance to advertise on those billboards.

“A request for proposal that would allow other companies to offer bids wasn’t issued for this project,” three airport commissioners wrote in a November San Jose Mercury News op-ed. “That public input combined with the environmental impacts, the marginal business case and the flawed process are why we voted no.”

But even though the body governing the airport grounds has given it a vote of no confidence, there’s still a chance San Jose City Council could push it through.

“They claim the city will make money and they also claim the local economy will be helped by the presence of these digital billboards, but we think those are bogus arguments,” said John Miller, the leader of No Digital Billboards in San Jose.

The study of San Jose residents’ opinions on the billboards was conducted in 2021, three years after the city council first voted to allow digital signage to go up at 17 city-owned sites.

Still, the public pressure may be enough to get the council to fold. In 2021, the San Jose City Council voted to halt a plan to build digital billboards on private property after an onslaught of opposition from city residents and the local chapters of the Audubon Society and Sierra Club.

In the city study of more than 2,200 people, including residents and business owners, 80% of respondents also opposed adding LED billboards to the side of city buildings in downtown San Jose.

Jason Hemp is one of several San Jose residents who voiced concerns at recent public meetings about how the digital screens would change the “character” of San Jose.

“I love driving 280 when I’m traveling to the city because you have beautiful views of the hills along the peninsula,” said Hemp, who is also part of No Digital Billboards in San Jose. “I just couldn’t stand the thought of having dozens of digital billboards going up along other freeways and impacting that scenery.”

Astronomers at the Lick Observatory in the foothills above San Jose have also opposed the plan, citing concerns about light pollution. Clear Channel and city officials said the signage will be dimmed in the evening hours.

Other Bay Area cities, including Oakland, Santa Clara and San Carlos, have erected digital billboards along freeways.

San Jose City Councilmembers Cohen and Raul Peralez, who have long championed digital billboards in Silicon Valley, did not respond to requests for comment.

“I hope the city realizes there’s no public appetite for this,” said Ben Leech, the executive director of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com

Gwendolyn Wu is the writer of The Chronicle's flagship newsletter, Bay Briefing, and an engagement reporter. As a Hearst Fellow, Gwendolyn previously worked as a business reporter at the Houston Chronicle, focusing on the health care and biotech sectors, and a metro reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, where she was part of the award-winning breaking news team that covered the deadly Camp Fire.

Originally from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, Gwendolyn graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with degrees in history and sociology. Follow her on Twitter @gwendolynawu.