New billboard going up in Pocatello

A new billboard is going up in Pocatello and it has several people who live near it upset.

Soon, cars driving South Valley Road and the South Valley connector in Pocatello will see a new billboard.

Those who live in the area said they don’t want it. They said they can see it from their properties and it’s an eyesore.

At first, neighbors of the billboard thought it was going to be electronic, but the city said it’s not. It’s going to a traditional billboard.

Even so, neighbors still don’t want it.

“I view this as a form of visual pollution,” said Brad Christensen, who owns a land of ground and lives near the billboard. “The location and the way it’s directed is specifically at the residential neighborhood which I think is in appropriate for the city of Pocatello.”

“It’s a slippery slope to a lot of other things,” said Matthew Bowman, who owns an organic farm near South Valley Road. “Don’t want to see people building a box store down here or anything else.”

“I’m not very happy with it,” said Linda Fairchild, a long-time resident of the area. “I’ve lived here 40 years and it’s an invasion of the privacy of a neighborhood. We didn’t move out here to see signs. We moved out here to keep in peace, have our deer and keep our openness that we want.”

The city said the billboard has to stick around.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” said Terri Neu, assistant planner with the city. “It meets our code and so there’s nothing really we can do about it, asking them to take it down or anything like that.”

Those against the billboard said a lot of the problem with it is that they weren’t notified it was coming.

Neu said that is correct. She said when billboards are put up in commercial zones, everyone within a 200-foot radius is notified and given the chance to request a public hearing.

However, Neu said in this case, the ground it’s placed on is in a light-industrial zone, meaning no notices were required.

Neighbors said they think Pocatello should look at changing some its policies. Christensen said that 200 feet should be extended to at least 1,000 feet and residents should have a chance to voice their opinion on changes such as billboards.

“The city of Pocatello needs to upgrade their ordinance and I think the citizens have a right to be informed of something of this magnitude going in so that there can be public comment because this was just a total shock to everyone in the neighborhood,” Christensen said.

Neu said it met city code and signage requirements to place a billboard. Those requirements are the following: a sign can’t be within 1,000 feet of another sign on the same side of the street. Second, it has to be at least 150 feet from any signs on the opposite side of the street. It can’t be within 250 feet of a school, church, cemetery, historic district or residential district. Neu said this billboard was well outside of that and met all necessary requirements. She added billboards can only be placed in commercial, industrial or light industrial zones.

Another issue that neighbors brought up with this issue is the question of the city’s current moratorium on all billboards in the city.

Neu said that moratorium is still in effect and does include traditional billboards. However, Dell’s Inc., who is putting up the billboard, had their application submitted in early spring. Neu said it was approved and granted long before the city’s billboard moratorium was in effect. So the city has to honor that.

Neighbors said they realize they are stuck with it now, but hope this can be used as an eye-opening experience for the city to change its methods and consider the effect on nearby residents when putting up billboards. They hope to not see anymore and that this billboard isn’t a sign of more to come.