ENCINITAS — City Council unanimously approved a measure banning billboards July 9. The change to the city’s existing sign ordinance will take effect immediately.

On April 23, the council adopted a so-called “temporary urgency ordinance” amending the current sign regulations making the new law immediately effective. Under state law, municipalities may pass certain laws temporarily while going through the normal public review period.

In response to an inquiry to construct a new billboard, staff raised concerns about the legality of the existing ordinance. Although the city has a long-held policy to prohibit new construction of advertising billboards, Planning Director Pat Murphy told the council that certain aspects of the ordinance could be better defined. “After consulting with our legal team we sought to create an ordinance that would effectuate our long-held practice of prohibiting new billboards,” he said.

In a staff report to the Planning Commission on June 5, city officials said that recent court rulings have sided in favor of applicants who were denied permission by cities to erect new billboards. Generally, the courts have found that municipalities may ban billboards to serve government interests, but must not favor noncommercial messages over commercial messages.

Randall Morris from the city attorney’s office told the commission that the dual-track adoption would insulate the city from such legal wrangling. “This is preventive law, defensive law,” he said.

Commissioner Gene Chapo agreed with the staff findings in City Council’s initial report. “Billboards cause aesthetic harm to the community,” he said. “And modern billboards have a lifetime of many decades, which is all the more reason to support it.”

The measure passed unanimously, with one commissioner absent.

While the new ordinance does not affect existing billboards, the city may consider agreements allowing those signs to be relocated.

For some residents, the measure does not go far enough. “I would like to see all of these signs out of here,” Sara Lunden, a Leucadia resident said. “It looks like a mini-Hollywood with all of the advertisements along (North Coast Highway) 101.”

“I don’t know what this has to do with free speech,” John Simpson said. The Encinitas resident said he would favor a more restrictive approach to all signs within the city. “If you want to advertise a product, do it in a way that isn’t so intrusive to the community,” he advised. “I think this is a good starting point.”

The new ordinance will now go to the Coastal Commission for approval.