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Our View So Thomasville and the billboard companies stared at each other and Thomasville blinked. At Monday's public hearing over the city's proposed zoning ordinance, Thomasville backed off nearly every tough stance on billboards in town. One by one, the restrictions came off, as billboard company representatives looked on, confident in their victory. Now, the city's ordinance regarding billboard regulations is little better than a paper tiger. If they want to put up glaring electronic signs, they can. If they want to put up rotating signs, they can. The distance requirement was cut in half from 1,000 feet between signs to a mere 500 feet. In the past, billboard companies have not shied away from taking municipalities to court when faced with tough new billboard laws, and we wonder just how much of a reminder Thomasville's city officials got about that before Monday night's meeting. We're not opposed to billboards entirely, but they should be strictly regulated to preserve the aesthetic appeal of our town. The current zoning ordinance doesn't go far enough now, we feel. Some businesses in town depend on billboards to draw business from the main highway, and we wouldn't want to deprive them of that. But having our main thoroughfare littered with giant billboards owned by an out of state company that gives little to nothing back to our community is not what most people in this town want. We urge the council to reconsider its restriction on the distance between billboards and reinstate its restrictions on the electronic versions of these large signs at the very least.
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