FIRMS TO TAKE DOWN TOBACCO BILLBOARDS IN S.F.

They'll obey ban on most outdoor ads

San Francisco's forest of tobacco billboards will come down by June 1,
after an agreement yesterday between the city and two outdoor advertisers
who own virtually all the signs.

Outdoor Systems Advertising and Eller Media Co., both with headquarters in
Phoenix, Ariz., said they will eliminate the advertising six weeks before a
tough new city ordinance banning most of them takes effect.

``We will get them down within two weeks,'' said Stephen Shinn, a spokesman
for Outdoor Systems' Northern California office in Berkeley.

Both companies said that by July 1 they will also comply fully with state
law that since the beginning of the year has forbidden tobacco billboards
within 1,000 feet of a school or playground anywhere in California.

``This is remarkable. I've got to give them credit for doing the right
thing,'' said San Francisco Supervisor Gavin Newsom, author of the city
ordinance he called ``the most restrictive in the nation.''

A Chronicle story in March revealed that the state law was being widely
flouted throughout California.

Yesterday's agreement includes all tobacco advertising displayed by the two
companies on billboards, bus shelters and BART and Muni stops in San
Francisco.

When the signs are replaced, the city will be the first major metropolis in
America to be cleared of tobacco billboards. Cigarette billboards are not
permitted in Salt Lake City, but they never gained a toehold there among
its largely nonsmoking Mormon population.

``This is a huge step forward for public health,'' said San Francisco City
Attorney Louise Renne, who brokered the agreement along with Newsom.

The advertisers' decision goes beyond the requirements of the city
ordinance, which allows some tobacco signs along the Highway 101 corridor
after the rules take effect on July 16.

But George Broder, a spokesman for the Oakland offices of Eller Media, said
his company decided not to find the few spots where the billboards could
still be posted.

``We were not going to get into hair-splitting subjectivity, such as
where's the center of the property line, what's a playground, what is
not,'' said Broder. ``There will be no more tobacco advertising on
billboards in San Francisco.''

Broder said that the company believes that the tobacco billboard
restrictions could be vulnerable to a challenge under the First Amendment's
guarantee of free speech. However, neither Eller nor Outdoor Systems plans
to make a case of it, but such a challenge might still be mounted by the
tobacco companies.

The San Francisco ordinance that takes effect in July also bans tobacco
advertising in store windows. However, taxicabs are exempt and will still
be able to carry the ads their roofs. Neither Eller nor Outdoor Systems
owns any taxicab signs.

Civic leaders praised the billboard companies yesterday, but critics are
miffed that the state billboard law is being ignored for at least one more
month.

``I'm a little uncomfortable patting people on the back for complying with
a law that came into being six months ago,'' said Dan Reeves, chief of
staff for Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, author of the state
law.

Reeves stressed, however, that the decision to comply with state law was an
important milestone in the battle against tobacco use.

Broder said that although the billboard companies were aware of the state
law, they were waiting for the state to clear up ambiguities such as
defining a playground -- does that mean any city park, or only the areas
with outdoor swings and other play equipment?

After the Chronicle story, the state health department held two
informational meetings with billboard operators. The state acknowledged
that it had neither the manpower nor the resources to enforce the
restrictions, but intended to do so July 1.

Michael Green, executive director of the San Francisco-based Center for
Environmental Health, said complying with state law in July isn't enough.
``They should have done it six months ago,'' he said.

Green's organization filed suit March 23 against the two companies in an
attempt to force compliance. He said it would be appropriate restitution to
have the companies run anti-smoking billboards in the same locations.

At any rate, the decision was good news for a small band of saboteurs who
had vandalized tobacco advertisements within the zone forbidden by state
law. ``Cool,'' said James Reid, a 48-year-old building contractor who was
arrested last month for defacing a Lucky Strike billboard.

)1998 San Francisco Chronicle

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)