UHNA NPU-D Rep Eva Nason and Safety Chair Cynthia Williams attended the ZRB meeting on behalf of the neighborhood last Thursday, along with NPU-D Chair Jim Martin and UWCID Executive Director Elizabeth Hollister. 
The item of interest to us is the Billboard Legislation sponsored by 8 Councillors that would allow a company to upgrade large billboards without any planning process or approval. This was the last opportunity for community input before going before Council.
Jim Martin spoke to clarify the NPU voted to Deny the application (after the company lawyer tried to make out the vote was in favor!), Elizabeth outlined how the proposed legislation goes against many established planning rules, including existing planning Code, the Upper Westside Development Plan and the Beltline Overlay, and Cynthia spoke for the UHNA, highlighting the negative impacts for Underwood Hills and the united community opposition.
The City's own staff report recommended Denial of the application (see below) and the ZRB also voted to recommend Denial, however these only act in an Advisory capacity to Council, which could ignore the outcome (it has happened before).
​Councillor Dustin Hillis is working to have the Howell Mill Rd signs removed from the Ordinance, but he doesn't sit on the committee that will make the decision, so please write to Sponsors you have a connection with, or to our own rep Councillor Hillis to urge the committee not to enable negative impacts on Underwood Hills.
UHNA will inform the community once we know when this will be considered by the relevant committee.

Ordinance by Councilmembers Matt Westmoreland, Michael Julian Bond, Amir Farokhi,
Liliana Bakhtiari, Alex Wan, Andrea L. Boone, Marci Collier Overstreet and Antonio Lewis