Sky Is the Limit for Beach Ads, Cities Say

A battle is brewing along the Southern California coast over banner-towing planes advertising everything from liquor to software companies.

The drone of the planes crisscrossing above the beach is a sign of summer--and a nuisance to many, who complain that engine noise drowns out the surf.

For years, beach communities have been stymied in their efforts to curb the plane noise because airspace is controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has steadfastly supported the right of banner planes to operate.

But a recent federal appeals court ruling upholding the right of Honolulu to ban aerial advertising is giving towns from Laguna Beach to Manhattan Beach hope that they can impose regulations, or an outright ban.

Huntington Beach City Councilwoman Connie Boardman has proposed an ordinance, similar to Honolulu’s, that would prohibit all banner towing and other aerial advertising over the city’s beaches. If approved Aug. 19, it would probably be a test case in California.

The planes “take away from the experience of the ocean,” said Toni Iseman, a Laguna Beach councilwoman, who is considering a similar ordinance. “You should hear the roar of the surf, not the roar of the plane. It’s the worst kind of billboard.”

But Huntington Beach’s proposed ordinance is sure to be fought by banner plane companies and the FAA, which is not ready to cede authority over airspace to local governments.

“This is not a finished deal, as far as the FAA is concerned,” FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder said of the Honolulu case. “We are going to pursue this. We still believe the authority to control the airspace is federal.”

Pilots whose business is heavily dependent on the advertising banners said they would be devastated by a ban. They make $1,000 to $2,500 per flight.

“Most likely, I would ignore [a ban over Huntington Beach] and it would go to court action,” said Jerry Hider, who runs Blue Yonder Air Ads, based at Whitman Airport in Pacoima. “I don’t have a pilot’s license issued by Huntington Beach. I have a license issued by the FAA, and I’m bound by what they say I can and cannot do.”

Honolulu adopted its ban in 1997 after complaints.

SkySign International, which flew a helicopter with a neon sign advertising products over Waikiki Beach at night, ignored the ban and was cited by the city for violating the law. SkySign then sued the city, saying the airspace was outside the Honolulu city and county limits.

But a federal court judge ruled last year that the state had an overwhelming aesthetic interest in what happens in the air because Hawaii’s tourist economy depends on the beauty of the islands. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling in January.

Jon Van Dyke, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Hawaii who advised the city, said the company’s advertising was “so obtrusive” that it created ill will. Legally, he said, the city “can’t stop the helicopter from operating, but it can stop it from gratuitous commercialized advertising.”

SkySign eventually went out of business. It was the only company of its kind there, so there is no aerial advertising in Honolulu, Van Dyke said.

The rulings open the door for other cities to pass similar ordinances, Van Dyke said.

“Any community that wants to protect its visual assets [is covered],” Van Dyke said. “Huntington Beach and Manhattan Beach, if they’re trying to get tourists, it’s legitimate for them to try to limit aerial advertising.” Manhattan Beach has instructed staff to look into the possibility of regulation.

Most banner planes hold waivers issued by the FAA that allow them to fly lower than 1,000 feet. The federal court reviewing the Honolulu case noted an FAA handbook that says planes seeking to fly lower than 1,000 feet must take into account local laws and ordinances.

The FAA’s Snyder agreed that the handbook’s language amounts to “tacit acceptance by the FAA that there is some local authority over regional airspace issues.”

But that might change.

“If we revise it and it no longer makes that statement, than it would surely place the authority within the FAA,” Snyder said.

Officials in beach cities say residents often complain about noise from the banner planes. On holidays, residents say they count as many as a dozen fly-bys an hour .

“For years, people who live close to the coast have complained about the noise these planes make,” said Boardman. “In the past, our city attorney has said there is nothing we can do about it.”

The Honolulu case, she said, gives the City Council “a good reason to try to [enact] an ordinance.”