Bellflower Considers Outdoor Advertising Contract

By Tammye McDuff

The Bellflower City Council considered an exclusive outdoor advertising development plan at its February 22 regular meeting with Bulletin Displays, LLC proposing to conduct a citywide study of potential locations, both on public and private property, for outdoor advertising signage.

Based upon projected agreement terms, the City would receive 7% of the annual gross revenue from each sign on private (street) property, and 25% of the annual gross advertising revenue from each sign proposed to be located on public (freeway) property.

To guard against a revenue shortfall, an annual fee of $50,000 for a freeway sign location or $25,000 for a street sign location was proposed. If the advertising exceeds those amounts the 7%/25% proposals would kick in.

The Council also discussed improvements from Belmont Street to Laurel Street. The budget set aside was $168,500, however engineers estimated $350,000 to complete the project. Excel Paving submitted a bid in the amount of $222,962which necessitated the Council to allocate additional funds in the amount of $181,500. To provide for the funding gap, it was recommended to increase the reimbursements from the Gas Tax Fund for qualified street expenditures.

In other news, an ordinance establishing a 45-day suspension on developing properties within the Agricultural Estate Zone [AEZ] was considered.

The location of the moratorium area is Alondra Boulevard to the north, Beach Street to the south, Woodruff Avenue to the west, and the City boundary to the east.

If accepted, the ordinance would establish a temporary moratorium on the City issuing permits allowing construction of structures or development of properties within the AEZ.

Approximately 480 properties and 148 acres in area will be affected by the proposed moratorium.

Adopting the ordinance will provide some “breathing room” to evaluate the city’s General Plan and zoning regulations.

The City is requesting that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority [Metro] provide $15 million to Eco-Rapid Transit with its member cities for predevelopment planning for environmental studies.

Metro is initiating the environmental studies required to construct the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Line. The City is a member of the Orangeline Development Authority, doing business as Eco-Rapid Transit.