Digital billboards vote delayed until April

After three hours of discussion, a controversial proposal to lift Marion County’s ban on digital billboards was postponed without a vote Monday night.

Proposal No. 250, which passed the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee of the Indianapolis City-County Council in November on a bipartisan vote, was scheduled for a second committee vote Monday. But the panel decided to delay the vote until April 6.

Monday's meeting attracted such a large crowd that it had to be moved into council chambers. Twenty-three neighborhood and civic organizations, as well as the Town of Cumberland, were listed in opposition to the proposal.

The proposal asks the Metropolitan Development Commission, an appointed board, to initiate changes to the sign ordinance and suggests language that the commission could adopt or alter. That language would permit as many as 75 digital billboards to go up in a span of 36 months.