A new pilot program that would allow 10 digital billboards to be placed in parts of San Antonio began accepting applications on Monday.
City officials are still figuring out how to implement the program that drew detractors when the idea was first introduced in 2022.
San Antonio City Council approved the Digital Media and Arts pilot program on June 12, allowing 10 digital signs or billboards in eight specific districts across the city. Two of those will be set aside for the city, eight are available to private applicants on a first come, first serve basis.
Private applicants will have to pay a $100,000 fee to put up their billboard and share 10% of advertising revenue with the city. In addition, 20% of the billboard’s usage will be reserved for the city, allowing the display of public art.
They can be installed in several downtown districts, as well as around Port San Antonio, Brooks or Toyota Field, but the signs must not be viewable from the River Walk. They also cannot feature explicit images or advertise for smoking or vaping products.
The pilot program is only for two years, but the signs could stay as long as they comply with requirements laid out by the city.
“The program itself does not require the signs to come down,” said Rachel Parrish, a city engineer, at a meeting of the Historic and Design Review Commission Wednesday. “Any signs put up in this program would stay up in perpetuity.”
The City of San Antonio’s Development Services Department, which Parrish works for, is overseeing the application process for the digital billboards and says the permitting process will take in input from multiple sources.
Development Services will have the final approval of billboards, which will happen on a first come, first serve basis if applicants are able to gain all other approvals.
They must also work with the city’s arts commission on the public art content. The Texas Department of Transportation must also have input if the proposed sign is visible from the road, a process that could take three months on its own, according to Development Services spokesperson Ximena Copa-Wiggins.
The Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC) will also get an opportunity for input, both on the public art displayed in the billboard and where the billboard itself will be placed, in certain historic parts of San Antonio, Copa-Wiggins said.
At a meeting on Wednesday, HDRC officials discussed their exact role in the process and what specific powers they were granted in the process by City Council.
HDRC members provided feedback to some applicants. Three signs were presented to the commission: one at the intersection of Market and St. Mary’s Street, another at the corner of Martin and Navarro streets facing south and a third on the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter facing Bowie and Commerce streets.
Applicants like Orange Barrel media, an advertising company, spoke about their proposals. Several public commenters spoke out against the digital billboards.
HDRC members debated the billboards and how they fit with the architecture of their proposed buildings. They also asked how much input they were able to have on the billboards when it comes to approving or disapproving them.
Ultimately, HDRC members decided to send the signs to a Tuesday subcommittee meeting for further discussion.
All three signs are scheduled to be discussed again during an Oct. 1 meeting of the HDRC, along with at least eight others, according to the city’s website.