Leaders "Upset" To See Billboards Going Up In Johns Creek

Editor's note: the following statement was released Friday, Jan. 6 by the city of Johns Creek.

The city of Johns Creek fought to keep billboards out of our community. We fought the battle all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court, but unfortunately, we lost that legal battle which forced the city to enter into settlement negotiations with the billboard companies.

The goal of the negotiations was to mitigate the effects of the court ruling. Today, we are faced with the unfortunate reality that up to 10 billboards are going up despite the city's efforts, but this number could have been much larger without the settlement agreement.

Everyone in Johns Creek is upset to see these billboards going up, including your Mayor and City Council members. As much as we would like to change the present billboard situation, we cannot change the legal dictate imposed on us or the settlement agreement without putting the city in legal jeopardy. All we can do now as a city and as a community is to move forward together to do the best for Johns Creek that we can. The city of Johns Creek is committed to doing everything it can to make the billboard situation better in any way possible as long as it does not put the city at legal risk.

The city manager has been directed to facilitate a meeting between the various parties concerned about the billboards. We hope that such a dialogue can explore how to improve the billboard situation for the benefit of our community.

The mayor and City Council continue to seek open dialogue with all citizens to better understand the current billboard situation and how to best mitigate their effects in the future.

Photo: Johns Creek leaders participate in a recent town hall discussion on billboards. Credit: city of Johns Creek