WATERTOWN — Local developer P.J. Simao is expected to get final approval to convert two conventional billboards on Factory Square to digital signs.
The City Council on Monday night indicated its plans to greenlight the two electronic billboards, owned by Mr. Simao’s company, Onondaga Development LLC.
Approval of the electronic billboards will be considered after a public hearing is held at 7:15 p.m. Jan. 3.
Council members agreed to amend a Planned Development District, or PDD, to allow the two-sided digital billboard. In 1999, the city allowed Mr. Simao to erect an 11-by-50-foot billboard at that location.
The current billboard sits in an empty grass field adjacent to the city’s Factory Square Park along the Black River.
In recent years, electronic billboards have been springing up all over the country, including several along Interstate 81.
Local real estate developer Jake Johnson had wanted to turn two billboards on top of a building he owns at 104 Court St. into electronic billboards, but the state Department of Transportation ruled against them because they would violate the federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965.
Since then, state Assemblyman Mark C. Walczyk, R-Watertown, has been working on getting the state to change its mind and allow Mr. Johnson’s two digital billboards.
The City Council also endorsed Mr. Johnson’s plans for his two billboards.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the City Council had given full approval for the Factory Square digital billboards on Dec. 20.
