Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:

Question: Like so many Asheville residents, I moved here from somewhere else and feel gratitude daily for the opportunity to live here. I am deeply concerned about the vitally important issues of homelessness, reparations and development that should be thoughtfully designed and contribute to a lasting positive impact on the community. A more superficial and aesthetic issue also concerns me: Billboards. When you drive along Virginia’s interstates, the absence of billboards provides a noticeably different experience. What are the chances of eliminating billboards in the city limits and limiting the height of other signage? Which city/county department is responsible?

Answer Man: Ugly billboard goes untouched? McCormick area condos $750,000?

My answer: My understanding is some folks are building some pretty nice tiny homes on some of these billboards, so let's not be too hasty in taking them out. We need all the housing we can get.

Real answer: Billboards have long been a contentious issue in these parts, especially in the city limits, where most of the billboards sit. The interstates are another favorite spot, and we'll address that in a minute.

First though, city of Asheville spokeswoman Kim Miller provided an overview of city policy.

"The city already prohibits the establishment of additional outdoor advertising/billboards," Miller said. "New billboards in the city limits are a result of a 'cap and replace' program in which existing board faces are removed within the city and placed only in certain major road corridors. The result is typically a net reduction in the overall square footage of billboards."

When you get to specific businesses, that's a little different.

Answer Man: Merrimon Avenue 'ditch' issue swallowed my car! You ever run out of questions?

"On-premise signage for individual businesses is regulated by the specific zoning district, with the tallest freestanding sign allowance being 25 feet above grade/ground level," Miller said. "Reduction in allowed height would require a text amendment and be approved by the City Council."

Now, regarding interstate billboards, the North Carolina Department of Transportation's outdoor advertising coordinator, Stephen Gardner, helped with an answer.

“NCDOT manages billboards along designated interstate and primary routes in accordance with general statutes and the administrative code," Gardner said via email. "Municipalities can make more restrictive ordinances within their jurisdiction. NCDOT would only review the state application after the owner has municipal approval."

On the NCDOT website, it notes the agency "provides administrative oversight to effectively control the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs and junkyards.

Answer Man: CarMax going in old Toys R Us site? More court cost info?

"Effective control of outdoor advertising by the state was required under the 1965 Highway Beautification Act," the DOT site states. "The Outdoor Advertising Control program in North Carolina became effective October 15, 1972 upon agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation."

In a nutshell, the NCDOT is responsible for "controlling the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs adjacent to the interstate and federal-aid primary highways as they existed on June 1, 1991, and/or any highway that is or becomes a part of the National Highway System," according to the DOT's website.

If you really want to take a deep dive here, you can find the state law, NC General Statute 136-126, below. It's 16 pages long, so brace yourself for a fascinating read.

I'll also note that I've fielded a few questions about this topic over the years, particularly back in 2014 and 2015 when the city was wrangling with a really ugly electronic billboard erected in the front yard of a former house on Merrimon Avenue that's now a business. That one slipped past City Council, as former Councilman Jan Davis told me back then.

But this brouhaha all went back to a 2008 plan City Council approved that was designed to reduce the number of billboards overall.

Former Asheville City Planner Shannon Tuch, now the Town Administrator for Woodfin, had this to say about the billboard issue back in 2015.

"The option to replace old static billboards with electronic ones was approved in 2008," Tuch said. "The standard at the time required that three square feet of static billboard face be removed for every one square foot of digital billboard face. This did result in the removal of a number of older static billboards that were reviewed with the application when each of the new digital billboards went up. The option for digital billboards, however, was removed in 2012."

Answer Man: Eyesore structures not addressed? Gas line river crossings under French Broad?

Also, Tuch noted then, Asheville adopted a "cap and replace" ordinance in 2004 that limits the number of billboards in the city (the cap) "but allows for those qualifying signs to be maintained, replaced or relocated within the approved road corridors," Tuch said. 

I noted in another story in 2015 that eight existing electronic billboards would be grandfathered in and allowed to remain, but no new digitals will be allowed.

When talking about all of this, it's also important to remember that the billboard industry will argue these signs are helpful to motorists in notifying them of upcoming restaurants, attractions and other amenities, which is true.

I'll also note that as a business enterprise, billboard companies make a lot of money, employ a lot of folks and thereby carry significant political clout in Raleigh.

I haven't heard any rumblings about significant changes to our state's billboard rules, but if I hear otherwise I'll let you.

The last time all this came up in a nice contentious way was in 2019 when Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that would allow the movement of billboards, and which critics said would have restricted local governments’ ability to regulate billboards, as the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

The N&O noted the North Carolina Outdoor Advertising Association had previously said the law was needed to preserve about 7,500 billboards that remained in the state. The article said advertising companies lost about 1,000 billboards over the previous decade, mostly because of local restrictions.

Meantime, keep in mind that a Chick-fil-A, Bojangles and McDonald's now have restaurants at every interstate exit in America. At least that what it seems like from the billboards...   

This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com.