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From:Gita Dev To:GRP-City Council Subject:Re: Agenda Item 8.A (10/14/24): Consideration of Digital Billboards in Redwood City Date:Monday, October 14, 2024 12:14:38 PM You don't often get email from gd@devarchitects.com. Learn why this is important October 14, 2024 Dear Mayor Gee and Council Members: We submit the following comments with regard to Item 8.A on the October 14 Council agenda regarding “Consideration of a phased approach to allowing digital billboards in Redwood City, with phase one allowing one digital billboard in Redwood City”. Digital billboards have the potential to negatively impact wildlife and people due to the effects of light pollution. Therefore, digital billboards should not be allowed in any areas near to sensitive wildlife habitat or residences and also impact driver safety. The staff report states that Caltrans regulations prohibit digital billboards along a “landscaped freeway” or within 500 feet of another billboard. The staff report further states that within the Highway 101 corridor in Redwood City, only approximately 0.2 miles does not qualify as “landscaped freeway” segments. From the map entitled “Map 1A” in the staff report, it appears as though this 0.2 miles consists of two areas, one located where 101 crosses over Redwood Creek, and one located slightly north of the Woodside Road interchange with 101. The staff report also mentions the possibility of removing existing static billboards in exchange for allowing new digital billboards in the same location. As shown in Maps 1 and 1.A, those existing static billboards are located on the east side of 101, directly adjacent to the Bair Island Ecological Reserve. Environmental impacts of digital billboards According to Dark Sky International, electronic billboards can be up to ten times brighter at night than traditionally lit billboards. Because there is no way to shield or direct the light that digital billboards emit, this nighttime lighting inevitably spills into adjacent areas. Any digital billboards located along Highway 101 adjacent to either Redwood Creek or the Bair Island Ecological Reserve would increase the amount of light that shines into these wetland and riparian areas, which are critically important for local wildlife. Bair Island, in particular, is part of the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, a federally-owned nature preserve that provides habitat for many sensitive species, including threatened and endangered species like the Ridgway’s Rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse. Exposure to artificial light at night can have physiological impacts on wildlife. It can disrupt animals’ circadian rhythms, cause alterations in hormone cycles, and impair the vision of nocturnal animals. There is unequivocal scientific evidence to establish the significant and unavoidable harm that Artificial