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Utah Supreme Court sides with SLC in billboard lawsuit

Posted at 11:12 AM, Oct 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-25 13:12:44-04

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court has sided with former mayor Ralph Becker in a lawsuit over billboards leading into the city.

In a ruling handed down late Tuesday, the state’s top court ruled against Outfront Media (formerly CBS). The billboard company sued Salt Lake City and then-Mayor Becker over a decision to deny them the chance to relocate a billboard along I-15.

In the ruling, Chief Justice Matthew Durrant said Becker’s decision to reject the relocation request in order to reduce the amount of billboards along gateways into the city was within his authority.

“The City’s Billboard Ordinance does not forbid the City from denying a
billboard relocation request that fits within the spacing requirements
of the Billboard Compensation Statute,” the justices wrote in the unanimous opinion. “And Mayor Becker’s decision was not arbitrary and capricious because it furthered his established goal of achieving a net reduction in the number of billboards in gateway areas.”

Read the ruling by the Utah Supreme Court here: