San Antonio officials are weighing a pilot program that would allow the city and property owners to share revenue from digital media signs displayed in specially designated parts of town.
But the proposal faces opposition from some city leaders and community organizations, who worry large the illuminated ad displays will ruin the aesthetics of downtown and add unwanted visual clutter in other neighborhoods.
City Council’s Planning and Community Development Committee met Friday, March 21, to discuss the proposal, which would create urban entertainment districts where digital advertising screens or displays can be installed on approved buildings.
In the end, the committee voted 3-0 to forward the recommendation to create the pilot program, which the full council is slated to debate in April for final action.
Councilwoman Teri Castillo, who raised concerns that the proposal would be unpopular with residents, abstained from voting.
During the meeting, San Antonio Development Services Director Amin Tohmaz said each digital screen would cover no more than 25% of a building facade. The city would get 20% of revenue for each display.
Each digital screen would show rotating ad content and official city messages. Each also would be accompanied by a stationary display created by a local artist.
Aside from advertising revenue, the city would benefit from the program and brightening spaces in certain high-traffic areas, Tohmaz told members of the Planning Committee.
City staff is considering carving out four urban entertainment districts in and around downtown, and others in Southtown, at the Pearl, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Toyota Field, Port San Antonio and Brooks City Base.
Downtown’s digital signs wouldn’t be visible from the River Walk, Tohmaz said, nor could they be placed on historic structures.
The origins of the proposal date back to 2022 when San Antonio-based advertising business Outfront Media and the organization Urban Activation Institute (UAI) approached the city with a proposal to install digital displays in art and entertainment districts.
UAI helped to launch urban entertainment districts in Denver and Atlanta.
Some committee members expressed support for the overall concept, although they acknowledged wariness many residents have about digital billboards.
“I hope it adds a safety factor in lighting up some areas that are dark, and it adds way-finding,” said Councilman John Courage, a mayoral candidate. “It’s one thing to visit a kiosk, but it’s something else to see something shown on a hotel.”
But Councilwoman Teri Castillo criticized city staff for recommending adoption of the program, pointing out that a majority of residents who answered a city-led survey oppose adding more digital ad displays.
According to Tohmaz, 75% of 544 respondents said “no” to a question about permitting large digital media displays citywide. When respondents are broken down by council districts, 31% of residents in District 1 said they support digital media displays, but more than 90% of residents in every other district opposed them.
“Oftentimes, a [city staff] recommendation does reflect what the general public is requesting,” Castillo said.
Some attendees of the committee meeting, including six members of the Conservation Society of San Antonio, spoke in opposition of the proposal.
CSSA President Lewis Vetter said his organization has legal, environmental and economic concerns about the creation of urban entertainment districts. He said the measure would flout the city’s sign code, which would therefore need to be amended.
“The sign ordinance required advertising companies to remove four billboards for every new digital billboard, thus improving the overall urban environment. This reverses that, increasing signage,” Vetter said.
Vetter added permitting more digital signs makes the city look ugly, and that the Denver and Atlanta urban entertainment districts have not proven financially successful.
Still, other committee members and speakers at the meeting said they see an upside to the proposal.
Trish Deberry, CEO of Centro San Antonio, a coalition promoting downtown growth, backed the proposal. She said adopting the proposal as a pilot program gives the city a chance to see how it performs.
Digital signs could be added in a way that don’t stain the appearance of downtown, she added.
“I think there can be a mix between art and a respect of our history and culture,” Deberry said.
Council member Phyllis Viagran said she wants to ensure that ad revenues the city collects are allocated to the Arts and Culture Department, which has been working with Development Services to formulate the proposal.
“I want us to have a process by which artists see some of that money,” she added.
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This article appears in Mar 19 – Apr 1, 2025.