BENTONVILLE — A digital billboard that went up Monday at the corner of Walton Boulevard and Southwest 14th Street has some city officials wondering if they made the right decision to allow the signs.
Several City Council members were concerned over an ordinance passed last year to allow digital billboards in the city after seeing one up close.
“I was surprised,” said Councilman Bill Burckart. Seeing the sign “made me wonder if we should revisit our agreement.”
The council passed the ordinance in June allowing digital billboards. The ordinance states for each face of a digital billboard, four other billboards must be taken down, Brian Bahr, planning manager, said. Bahr said the digital signs cost about $100,000 per side.
The height, size, type of message and brightness of the digital billboards also are regulated in the ordinance, Bahr said.
The digital billboard at Walton and Southwest 14th Street has two faces, meaning eight regular billboards had to be removed. Those eight were on a double-stacked billboard on Southwest 14th Street close to Centerton, Bahr said.
The digital billboards are good in that they help reduce the number of billboards, Mayor Bob McCaslin said.
“Anything we can do to reduce the number of billboards in town is a plus for all of us,” McCaslin said. “None of us want to have a thoroughfare where there is nothing but signs sticking in the air.”
Councilman Shane Perry agreed with McCaslin.
“The reality is we passed an ordinance to try to reduce the number of billboards in the city. I see that as an overall positive,” Perry said, noting he hasn’t seen the new billboard since it was turned on Monday.
Dennis Cogan of Bentonville sees the sign all day. Cogan owns PostNet, one of the businesses on the same corner as the billboard.
“We love it. Anything that helps small businesses sell their products and services to customers is a great thing,” Cogan said.
Travis Richardson of Bentonville said the new sign may stimulate the economy by advertising businesses in a big way.
“I like that billboard better than the others because you can see multiple items and it is very bright and very clear,” Richardson said.
Councilman Ed Austin said the new billboard doesn’t bother him, but he was surprised by it.
“I didn’t realize the new (digital billboard) could go anywhere,” Austin said. “I thought the new ones had to go where the old ones were pulled down.”
Burckart said he may request the council review the ordinance.
“The sign is very distracting right there, so it certainly could not hurt to review the ordinance,” Burkart said.
Telephone messages left Thursday and Friday with Fowler Media in Fayetteville, the billboard’s owner, were not returned.
Councilman Jim Dotson called the billboard a “big reality.”
“From an advertising standpoint it is probably a great thing, but from a city standpoint they’re very bright and very distracting, especially at night,” Dotson said.
Dotson said the new signs sounded good on paper because they lowered the number of billboards in the city.
“I’d definitely say the one on Southwest 14th Street and Walton is a bad idea,” Dotson said, noting his main concern is safety.
Councilman Jim Grider said the bright screen and changing messages on the billboard are distractions to drivers at one of the city’s busiest intersections.
There have been no traffic accidents at the intersection since the sign was turned on Monday, according to the Bentonville Police Department.
Grider said he would like to see the city keep statistics to determine whether the sign causes an increased number of accidents.
There is one other digital billboard in Bentonville. It’s at the intersection of Walton Boulevard and Interstate 540. A third billboard on Walton in front of George Nunnally Chevrolet is planned, Bahr said.