A judge sided with some Cheyenne residents this week in a case involving a recently built billboard.
Timothy Kingston and some of his neighbors filed a lawsuit against Next Media Outdoor Inc. and the city of Cheyenne last July, after a 40-foot-tall, lighted billboard was constructed just feet from their neighborhood.
Kingston, a local attorney, represented himself and his neighbors in the case.
He argued that a 2006 amendment to city code prohibited building new billboards in the city and that the one by his house shouldn't have been given a building permit.
The amendment states that "off-premise signs" are not allowed in any zoning district, and it defines "off-premise signs" as billboards.
However, the city code also states that the overall number of billboards cannot increase beyond its current number. So in order for one to go up, another had to be taken down.
That is the part of the code under which the city had been operating until the discrepancy was brought to its attention.
Pat Crank, an attorney representing Next Media Outdoor Inc., the company that built the new billboard, argued that the city code was unclear because it seemed to prohibit and allow billboard construction at the same time.
The city properly permitted the billboard under existing code, he said, because another billboard had been taken down prior to the new one being built.
"This is a weird quirk of kind of sloppy legislation," Crank said.
But Judge Keith Kautz disagreed.
"This ordinance is clear and unambiguous," Kautz wrote in his decision letter. "The plain, obvious language of this ordinance is that sign structures advertising things not located where the sign is are prohibited in all zoning areas of Cheyenne."
In his decision, the judge allowed Kingston to write an order. Kingston said he will not ask for anything other than to have the sign removed.
Kingston added that he was satisfied with the judge's decision.
"I certainly think we have enough billboards in town," he said.
Crank said his client is disappointed and considering appealing the decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court. If the ruling stands, Next Media will not be allowed to put up new billboards.
The city Planning Commission is currently considering whether it will recommend a proposed change to the city ordinance that would essentially take billboards out of the prohibited category.
"We're sure as heck going to argue against that," Kingston said.
Proponents of the change say that the 2006 City Council didn't intend to ban billboards when it amended the code and that the change clears up confusion. Opponents to the change say the 2006 City Council did intend to ban billboards and that the amendment should stand.
The issue will be discussed again at a Planning Commission work session on April 20, and the commission will take action at its next regular meeting on May 4.