Addendum to the EIR for Digital Billboards
John Aitken, A.A.E. Director of Aviation
1 What is being reviewed by Council?
• City Council is being asked to:
– Adopt a resolution approving the Addendum to the
Amendment to the Norman Y . Mineta San Jose International Airport Master Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (SCH# 2018102020), certified by the San Jose City Council
on April 18, 2020, in accordance with the California
Environmental Quality Act
– To conduct a Public Hearing regarding the Project Plan for two (2) Outdoor Advertising Digital Billboards, to fulfill the Public Noticing Requirement under Policy 6-4
2 History of the Project
• September 25, 2018
– Council adopted Council Policy 6-4, which provides the policy, regulations, and process for electronic signs
– 6-4 included proposed sites on Airport
• August 6, 2019
– Council approved the memo where the Airport identified its intent to use Clear Channel for its proposed digital billboards
– This same memo excluded Airport billboards from the 6-4 RFP process – Council approved this memo by unanimous vote of 11-0
• February 21, 2020
– Following the guidelines outlined in Council Policy 6-4, the Director of Aviation approved Clear Channel to develop and operate two electronic billboards • February 25, 2021
– All current sitting Council members vote to go forward with billboards on City owned sites under the rules outlined in Council Policy 6-4 (vote was 11-0) • July/August 2021, Opened to Public Comments on the Environmental, voluntary effort not required by CEQA
• January 26, 2022, Airport Commission voted to recommend approving the Addendum to the EIR.
3 August 6, 2019 Council Meeting
4 Terms of the Agreement
Term: From date of installation through
June 30, 2027
Revenue:
• 55% of Gross Revenue
• MAG of $490,000 for both signs
• $2.5m over the term
Capital Investment: $0 by the City
Concessionaire to incur all capital
investment
Marketing: The Airport can utilize up to
10% of the advertising time to promote
awareness and other airport initiatives
Take Down: Clear Channel will take
down 8 billboards in San José
5 Take Down Provisions
• 8 billboards to be removed
– Will be in the City of San José
– From locations that are unsightly or incompatible
with surrounding land uses (as outlined in Council
Policy 6-4)
– To take down other billboards, the easiest way is to
offer a trade as current billboards have legal rights
• Caltrans requires 2 billboards to be removed
along the freeways in California to receive a
landscape permit through Caltrans
6 Dark Sky Considerations
• When Council Policy 6-4 was created, Lick Observatory provided feedback and input in the process. As a result, the policy has the following requirements:
– Turning off billboard from midnight to 6am
– Tilting the signs towards the ground at 15 degrees
– Automatic dimming capabilities
– Restricting white/bright backgrounds
– Incorporates elements from the International Dark-Sky Association’s guidelines
• Applying these guidelines “has the potential to result in no net increase or even a net reduction in light pollution” *
• Back in 2018, in discussions between City staff and Lick Observatory it was noted that the Airport sites were far enough away to be outside the discussed ‘area of influence’ • Light from billboard would have an illumination of
0.0000000003 foot-candles for Lick. And no illumination after midnight. 7
* Source: International Dark Sky Association: Guidance for Electronic Message Centers (IDA2019-01) Light Shielding
• This project includes additional lighting control features that go beyond the requirements in Council Policy 6-4
• Features to control lighting:
– Additional efforts to minimize vertical and lateral light spillage are incorporated into the designs
– Side shielding to eliminate light spillage
– Top shielding to block nearly all light upwards towards the runways and planes
– Illumination would be set at level to be similar or less than the moon.
– Additional dimming controls would limit light spillage to the riparian zone, potential to lower power to 1% to limit lighting • Set to following requirements by the Dept of Fish and Wildlife – The conventional sign would use backlighting which reduces the brightness when compared with conventional billboard lighting. – Automatic dimming using photoelectric sensors
8 Health Concerns Raised
• Spoke with Allison Nichol at the Epilepsy Foundation.
Ms. Nichol worked for 20+ years for the U.S. Dept of
Justice on Disability Rights:
– There is no scientific evidence that LED lights as a light source create issues for people who are photosensitive
– There are no ADA issues with LEDs as a light source
– The issue for people who are photosensitive is when the lights are flashing, such as in the gaming or entertainment industry
– Flashing and/or moving lighting are prohibited on billboards in San José
• U.S. Dept of Energy also debunks the myth that LEDs are more harmful to human than other lights
9Source: https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/5-common-myths-about-led-street-lighting FAA Approval
• FAA has issued finding of no objections with
the terms and conditions of the signs
• All activities will be coordinated with the Air
Traffic Control Tower
10 Issue of Fairness
• Clear Channel followed all the City Council rules and processes.
• This 3-year public process has been transparent.
Airport has publicly communicated our intentions since
2019.
• Clear Channel received all required approvals.
• City Attorney was actively included and approved the
process.
• After receiving approvals, Clear Channel spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars on an open and
transparent environmental review, going beyond what
was simply required by law.
11 Business Case – Revenue Sharing
• Revenue sharing is 55%
• When Clear Channel first started the
conversation, they wanted revenue sharing to be
30-40%, but had to agree to the higher amount
because of the agreement we already had in
place
• Comparatives for billboard revenue sharing at
other airports:
– 35% at New Orleans Airport
– 35% at Victoria International Airport
– 37% at Piedmont Triad International Airport (NC)
12 Business Case – Revenue Sharing
55%
35%
30% 30% 30%
15%
10% 10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
San José
Airport
San Carlos - 2 San Carlos - 1 Belmont Oakland South San Francisco
Milpitas Alameda
13 Current Revenue Sharing Agreements in the Bay Area with Clear Channel Business Case – Highly Profitable
• If the billboard project exceeded MAG in the
same way as FY19 – FY21, which averaged 83%
over their MAG, the average revenue to the
Airport would be:
o $900,000 / year
o $4.5m over the term of the project
• Diversifies the revenue streams for the Airport.
o As a standalone project, this would likely be one
of the most profitable concessionaire at the
Airport (excluding other advertising)
14 Needed Revenue
• CPE – Cost per Enplanement to the Airlines
– PreCovid the CPE was under $10/enplaned passenger
– FY21, it hit over $35 and would have been nearly $50
without the Federal Grants
– FY22, is hovering around $22
• Debt Service
– The annual debt service requirement for the Airport is around $95 million a year
– Refinancing allowed us to front load some savings for FY22 and FY23, but it goes back up to about $70
million in FY24
15 The costs to the Airline partners have
increased significantly due to COVID
$0.00
$5.00
$10.00
$15.00
$20.00
$25.00
$30.00
$35.00
$40.00
$45.00
$50.00
FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 Est Airline Cost per Enplaned Passenger (CPE)
16 FY21 without
Federal Grant
funds
The recent bond refunding lowered the overall debt
and debt service for FY22 & FY23, but it rises again in FY24 & FY25
17 ($ millions)
Airport Debt
$40
$50
$60
$70
$80
$90
$100
$110
FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22
Est
FY23
Est
FY24
Est
FY25
Est
Total Bond Debt Service
What is being reviewed by Council?
• City Council is being asked to:
– Adopt a resolution approving the Addendum to the
Amendment to the Norman Y . Mineta San Jose International Airport Master Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (SCH# 2018102020), certified by the San Jose City Council
on April 18, 2020, in accordance with the California
Environmental Quality Act.
– To conduct a Public Hearing regarding the Project Plan for two (2) Outdoor Advertising Digital Billboards, to fulfill the Public Noticing Requirement under Policy 6-4
18