Austin Ad Agency Sues Cedar Park Over Partial Digital Billboards Ban

CEDAR PARK, TX — An Austin advertising agency with a national profile is suing Cedar Park for now allowing digital signs within its city limits, an ordinance the firm alleges is a violation of its freedom of speech, according to a published report.

Reagan National Advertising filed a lawsuit against the city over its ban on electronic messages in seeking at least $100,000 in damages, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The lawsuit doesn't make clear what the company had hoped to advertise via digital billboard.

The local ordinance prohibits advertisements for products in an area where they are not sold, according to the report. A city spokeswoman declined comment, citing the pending nature of the litigation.

According to the lawsuit, the spat was sparked after city regulators denied five permit applications for outdoor advertising signs Reagan Advertising had produced in March. Ad agency officials had hoped to install the signs at 701 Brushy Creek Road and 1010 E. Whitestone Blvd., according ot the report. Additionally, the company also applied to convert existing signs at 12226 RM 620 north, 1403 W. Whitestone Blvd. and 12342 RM 620 North to digital version, according to the report.

The Cedar Park block on digital signs is not a total ban as it does allow such signs for product at places where the advertised products are sold, the Statesman reported. The ad agency suggested such rules are arbitrary, according to details in the lawsuit referenced by the newspaper.

Tougher ordinances elsewhere in Williamson County includes those at Georgetown and Taylor that ban digital signs outright. Round Rock and Austin also prohibit off-premise digital signs, the Statesman noted, but only under certain circumstances and also within proximity of where the advertised goods are sold.

Located at 7301 Burleson Rd., Reagan National Advertising says on its website that it has various spots available throughout the Austin metro area: Eight-sheet poster coverage on surface streets throughout Austin; 30-sheet versions offering "exceptional poster coverage throughout the Austin metropolitan area, as well as coverage for Bastrop, Elgin, Lockhart, Luling, and San Marcos"; and permanent and rotary programs available throughout the Austin metropolitan area.

According to keyads.com, eight-sheet poster dimensions are six feet by 12 feet and are the most economical versions among standard outdoor formats.

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

Photo credit: Dwight Burdette via Wikimedia Commons