Bodker: City is "Close" To Inking Deal With Billboard Companies

Editor’s note: the following letter was written by Mayor Mike Bodker.

Dear residents and business owners,

To continue our communications regarding billboards coming to Johns Creek, I would like to respond to some of the questions I’ve received since my last letter.

But first, I hope you can attend one of two special billboard town hall meetings set for Thursday, Oct.16 at Park Place (3125 Old Alabama Road) and Thursday, Oct. 30 at City Hall (12000 Findley Road). Both will start at 6:30 p.m. and last until 8 p.m. We would like to hear your concerns and answer any further questions you might have.

I also encourage you to join us at the Oct. 20 City Council meeting at City Hall at 7 p.m. when (the) council will discuss the subject and possibly vote on an agreement with the billboard companies.

Like many of you, I would like to keep our city as pristine as possible, but in the case of the pending billboards we ultimately have no good choice in the matter. Please understand our options were limited, following the 2011 Georgia Supreme Court ruling ordering us to allow up to 31 of them in our city.

We could have done nothing and watched as the billboards arose across our city… we could have ignored the Georgia Supreme Court ruling ordering us to allow them, and faced potential significant penalties and claims for damages… or we could have entered detailed discussions with the billboard companies on how to comply with the court ruling, while still maintaining a degree of control, limited as it may be.

We chose the last option, as did the cities of Sandy Springs, Milton and Alpharetta when they were ordered to comply with the same court ruling. In each case, those cities worked out agreements with the companies to build a much smaller amount of billboards than the court approved.

Though the companies have the right to build up to 31 signs, our discussions have involved reducing the amount of billboards actually built and determining where the billboards would go, as well as some limited input regarding height of the signs. We are close to completing those discussions and it is in the best interest of our entire community to comply with the court ruling.

Because this was a local zoning regulation (Fulton County sign ordinance), there is no other court to appeal to. I know this is not welcome news to many of you, but the city does not have the final word on the court ruling.

For more information, please view a timeline of the litigation and a list of frequently asked questions. All of this is posted on the city website at JohnsCreekGA.gov, as well.

Please share this letter with your neighbors. It is very important for each and every one of us to understand why and how we got to this point.

Respectfully,

Mike Bodker
Mayor