MENDOCINO COUNTY BILLBOARDS

It is time for Mendocino County to take stock of the ever-increasing number and size of ugly billboards that are destroying the wonderful views here in Mendocino County.

If tourism is to increase we need to have a decrease in the number and size of unsightly billboards rather than increasing numbers. Thus, the County billboard ordinance, rules, and regulations should be upgraded in order to attract tourism here and also to enhance the beauty of Mendocino County.

1. All current billboards should be inspected to make sure that the size of the billboards in our county have not been increasing with additions in the last 10 years. Any billboards that have increased in width, height or length should be brought back into compliance by fines levied by the County Planning Department.
2. All billboards that have ugly backsides should be removed or upgraded. And backboards with metal and other types of rusting materials should immediately be upgraded so that they don’t look like rusting eyesores.
3. Lighted billboards should be banned in order to decrease light pollution and to save electricity. Those that are lighted should be turned off when the business is closed for the day. (Another energy saving method.)
4. When a business is no longer in operations or is sold it should be a requirement that the business take down, with 30 days, all of its billboards.
5. It is now allowable to have a billboard every 100 yards on freeways, etc. New billboards on highways and freeways should be limited to small Cal Trans Signs advertising such businesses. (Larger Cal Trans Business signs should be discouraged and limited in number.)
6. It should be noted that unsightly billboards and those that reduce views lower property values.
7. When property is sold the owner should be required to take down all billboards prior to the sale being final in order to eventually reduce the number of billboards countywide.

The pictures provided on this website of Mendocino County Billboards were taken over several years to demonstrate their negative impact on the natural beauty of this county. These pictures represent on a few of the billboards located in Mendocino County in order to demonstrate changes in their appearance, size, and the general degradation of the views of our county. It is alleged that a few of these billboards are illegal and should be removed.