WCSH-6 TV news story (NEWS CENTER) — Forty years ago Thursday, Maine Gov. James B. Longley signed into law an act that eventually removed about 8,500 roadside advertising billboards across the state. Maine was the second state in America after Vermont in 1968 to ban off-premises billboards, according to the Portland Press Herald. Maine’s 69th Read More
billboard ban
Lawmakers Consider Billboards in Maine
by Brad Rogers WGME news story AUGUSTA (WGME) — In Augusta, several state lawmakers are pushing for more signs along Maine’s interstates and highways, but some Mainers worry if exceptions are made for one it will open the door for others to put up signs of their own. 36 years ago, Maine became the second Read More
At Issue: Are Billboards an Unmet Need, or ‘Visual Litter’?
Pro-business and environmental views collide at a hearing on bills that would loosen the 34-year-old ban in Maine. by Rebekah Metzler, MaineToday Media State House Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA – Two daughters of the woman who led the effort to enact Maine’s 34-year-old ban on billboards testified Tuesday against proposals that they Read More
Proposal to Lift Maine’s Billboard Ban Sparks Opposition
by A.J. Higgins Maine Public news story A pair of bills has surfaced in the Legislature’s Transportation Committee that would try to help the cash-strapped state DOT find new ways to build and maintain roads. But a provision for billboards in one bill, and the option for business signs in another, created an uproar during public Read More
Billboard Ban: Protecting the Beauty of Maine’s Scenic Highways
Before passage of pioneering legislation in 1977, Maine highways were lined with billboards advertising everything from motels and car dealerships to cigarettes and junk food. The “billboard ban” law, which took effect on January 1, 1978, slowly worked over many years to decommission and dismantle existing billboard advertisements along major roadways in the state. The final Read More
