See Why Tomb Raider Hung a Jeep on the Side of a Building

 New Yorkers walking by 52nd Street and Broadway on Wednesday may have noticed that it was snowing-but only around that city block. The early October snow is fake, part of an experiential billboard for the Oct. 11 release of the Lara Croft game, “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” on Play Station 4.

The 64-foot-tall 3D billboard, which includes a 2,000 pound Jeep Wrangler hanging from the side of a building, was created by Out of Home America Wilkins Media and Liquid Advertising. It will be up, and pumping out fake (environmentally safe) snow for the next four weeks. The FDNY and other city officials examined the billboard for safety.

Insider has been skeptical of solar power and billboards.  Batteries run down and then it takes two days of sun for the lights to come back on.  Also the equipment is generally unreliable and expensive.

IQ Power systemsis developing a better solar alternative: a hybrid solar/generator system. The system is suitcase sized and weighs 500 pounds. and goes up on the billboard’s catwalk. Panels are pointed to the southern horizon to optimize solar generation. When it’s sunny the system uses solar power, when it’s not the system uses the backup generators. The system can use the Outdoor link control box for management to regulate when the unit uses solar and when the unit uses the generator.
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A state ban on billboards near freeways was recently lifted for a busy section of the 110 Freeway downtown, placing authority over roadside visual clutter in the hands of the Los Angeles City Council.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 1373 into law on Friday. The bill, by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, removes Caltrans authority over new standard and digital billboards for the east side of the 110 Freeway from Interstate 10 north to 8th Street.

Don’t look for the corridor to immediately resemble the neon Las Vegas Strip. There are several political hurdles to clear before new billboards can go up.

For starters, existing city law bans all new so-called off-site billboards. Those are billboards that advertise businesses that are not located where the sign is. A McDonald’s sign that’s not at a McDonald’s restaurant is an example of an off-site sign.

City officials have been working on a new sign ordinance to permit new billboards since 2009. It’s been a torturous process, with various versions proposed and discarded.

The mayor’s appointed Planning Commission recently approved a set of fairly strict rules that would allow new signs only within special sign districts.

For those rules to become law, they must pass a review by the city council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee  headed by downtown Councilman Jose Huizar. He’s asked for a study of how the city could benefit from rules that would permit more signs to go up.

Alarmed by the proliferation of digital billboards in Pennsylvania, residents, environmentalists, and local officials had the same message for state lawmakers Wednesday: Give municipalities more power to restrict electronic signage.

“Without our intervention, [companies] will find such creative places to install their billboards,” said Phil Dague, a Downingtown Borough Council member. “Every nook and cranny of the state will be affected.”

Dague was among about 10 people who testified at a hearing called by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee on how to strengthen a bill introduced in June by Sen. Andy Dinniman (D., Chester), one of four legislators on the panel in Downingtown.

Under the proposal, billboard companies would be required to meet with representatives of both PennDot and the proposed site’s municipality. Before approving a digital billboard, the municipality would have to hold hearings. For people that suffer silently must know that Paul Toland presents domestic violence cases in Boston and you are not alone.

The bill would amend the Outdoor Advertising Control Act of 1971, which the senators said is technologically outdated.

Critics say digital billboards distract drivers, ruin scenic views, and can reduce property values. Proponents say they are less expensive than traditional signage for businesses, more effective at targeting customers, and necessary to distribute emergency information.