'Trashy' and distracting to motorists, officials say
Human billboards -- those people who wave retail advertising signs along the street -- would be outlawed on Kenner public property under a measure that the City Council will consider today.
A man wears a billboard sign on the Williams Boulevard median in Kenner."Having moving billboards in the middle of neutral grounds is a distraction to our motorists," said Councilman Joe Stagni, who is sponsoring the proposal with Councilman Ben Zahn.
Also, Stagni said, the advertising "looks somewhat trashy," and it is "not fair to business owners who invest in signage on their own property for us to allow moving billboards on public property."
Kenner already outlaws some stationary signs on public property, but current law doesn't mention people waving or wearing signs.
Officials said they have started seeing human billboards along Williams Boulevard and West Esplanade Avenue. On a recent day, two men were standing in the Williams median wearing black signs with gold letters advertising "Cash 4 Gold."
Jason Dahlberg, who owns the Cash 4 Gold business, said the signs generate 60 to 70 of his business.
"I don't see it as a bad thing," he said, adding that the signs are better than handing out flyers, which could generate trash on the streets.
But Police Chief Steve Caraway said he supports the proposed ordinance. "It's an eyesore, and I think it's something that's an obstruction to traffic," he said.
As currently written, the measure would restrict people only from waving commercial signs and wearing commercial billboards on public streets, servitudes or right of way, including medians. But Zahn said it likely will be amended today to include political sign-wavers.
"Always safety first," he said.
Caraway agreed: "Anytime you're waving signs and causing people to become distracted when they're driving it becomes a safety issue."
He didn't have any statistics on whether signs contribute to traffic wrecks. He said the Police Department doesn't keep statistics that way and that drivers don't always admit they caused a wreck because they were reading a sign, but he said it's clear that the signs are a danger.
Dahlberg disagreed, saying he hasn't seen any wrecks caused by signs at Williams or West Esplanade.
He said people who sell their gold to his company spend the money in Kenner.
"It benefits the community," he said. The proposed law, he said, "is going to hurt the city and hurt businesses."
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The Kenner City Council meets at 5 p.m. at Kenner City Hall, 1801 Williams Blvd.
Mary Sparacello can be reached at msparacello@timespicayune.com or 504.467.1726.