The showdown over large digital advertising signs in downtown Miami returns to the Miami City Commission this week for a final vote.
Miami City Commissioner Damian Pardo could notch a victory this Thursday when an ordinance governing outdoor digital advertising signs at two key downtown locations comes before the City Commission for final approval.
What’s become known as the “billboard issue” has been a priority for Pardo since January, shortly after he was elected as the city’s District 2 commissioner on a residents-first, anti-corruption platform.
The billboard issue is “probably the best-case study of the undue influence of money in our city,” Pardo told the Spotlight. That’s why everyone, not just downtown residents, should care about how this issue plays out, he said.
“This is about the influence of money. That’s very important, that distinction. This really is not about billboards. This is about who is running your city. And who are you giving the power to. Right now, the lobbyists and Orange Barrel have that power,” Pardo said.
Orange Barrel Media is the national billboard company at the center of the controversy over digital billboards planned for two downtown arts organizations – the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
In the fall of 2022, former Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla sponsored an ordinance that added PAMM and the Arsht Center to a list of government-owned properties in the urban core where large outdoor advertising signs were permissible.
Specifically, PAMM and the Arsht Center were allowed “digital free-standing signs” with two sign faces of up to 1,800 square feet rising 100 feet off the ground.
Both organizations, which have contracts with Orange Barrel Media, say the digital signs will provide much-needed revenue to support their arts programming.
The Díaz de la Portilla ordinance passed in January 2023 on a narrow 2-1 vote, even though District 2 – the commission district most affected by the ordinance – was not represented on the dais that day. The District 2 seat had been vacated by former Commissioner Ken Russell but not yet filled by his replacement, Sabina Covo.
One year later, Pardo introduced legislation to repeal the 2023 ordinance, citing a lack of community input at the time, strong public opposition to the digital signs, and a potential conflict with state law as reasons for the repeal. Also discussed — and deferred — that day was a proposed 270-day moratorium on any new signs.
The moratorium was ultimately approved on April 11, but Pardo’s effort to repeal the 2023 ordinance stalled, despite his assurances that the repeal wouldn’t affect the digital signs already planned and permitted for the PAMM and the Arsht Center.
Pardo says those signs are flawed for other reasons, and eventually may be blocked because both institutions failed to obtain permission from their respective landlords.
“The Arsht has a bigger problem,” he said. “The county is their landlord. They never got permission. They are going to have to unwind those permits at the city, at the direction of the county.”
Earlier this month, the county directed the Arsht Center to cancel the sign permit it received from the City of Miami and start over.
PAMM faces a similar issue with its landlord, the City of Miami.
“The city leases that property to PAMM, so the city is the lessor in that relationship and the city has rights under the lease, because they also never approved the sign,” Pardo said. “They (PAMM) never received approval to erect that sign. That’s a big issue.”
When Pardo’s proposed repeal came up for a vote on April 25, Chairwoman Christine King introduced an amendment – one she characterized as a compromise – which would grant an exception for PAMM and the Arsht Center while placing new limits on the hours of operation and the brightness of their signs.
Pardo called the chairwoman’s changes a “stamp of approval amendment on something that should not receive a stamp of approval.”
King’s amendment was approved over Pardo’s objection. The matter was not yet settled, however, as City Attorney George Wysong deemed the changes substantial enough to require a second vote on May 23.
In advance of this week’s meeting, Pardo and his office have sought to rally support for a straightforward repeal with no exceptions.
“We are going to fight as hard as we can, because that’s what we are here to do,” he said. “We know what our residents want. So that’s our job.”
Pardo said he expects to receive support for his position from State Rep. Vicki Lopez and Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who represents downtown.
“In this case, you have the state representative, the county representative, and the city representative, all aligned in residents’ interests,” he said.
Pardo is also urging downtown residents and others to attend the meeting and express their opposition to the signs. Opponents gathered downtown on Sunday to protest the new signs at a demonstration hosted by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance.
Whatever the result of Thursday’s vote, Pardo says he can claim victory.
“Let’s say we lose on the 23rd. It’s not a loss. It is an enormous victory, at least in my book,” he said, citing the 270-day moratorium and the flaws in the permitting process that have been exposed.
“Everything has become transparent. Everything has been put in the light,” he said.
Frost Science, which Pardo said declined an offer from Orange Barrel Media for a billboard “because they knew it was bad for the area,” is reportedly lawyering up. Pardo says the science museum’s proximity to the PAMM sign, and any potential impact on their wildlife and programming, should give them standing to sue.
“If there’s this muddy water, let that sort out on its own,” Pardo said. “We should preserve the rights of the Frost or any residents, if they have standing, to go ahead and sue the City of Miami to enforce the lease.”
