BANDIT BILLBOARDS BANISHED By order of a U.S. district judge, 59 Houston-area billboards will be taken down over the next 12 months by the receiver in charge of the now-bankrupt company that erected them in violation of city ordinances. Approximately half of the billboards are between I-45 and 290 outside Beltway 8; none of them are on Highway 59. All were constructed recently outside Houston city limits but inside its “extraterritorial jurisdiction.” [Mayor’s Office; map (PDF); more detail from the Chronicle]
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ETJs – how do they work? What can the City of Houston control there and what can’t they control?
“erected them in violation of city ordinances.”
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Seems pretty open/shut.
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If I can get a $1,500 fine for being a week late in getting a “dumpster permit”, then I suspect the city can do just about whatever they want.
The ETJ governs all planning regulations. The billboard rules are part of planning regulations therefore the city can take them down.
This process took far too long….years instead of months. Clearly, they were in violation of the law and these billboards should have been taken down much sooner.