RALEIGH – A bill in the N.C. House of Representatives that the Polk County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution against was voted down on Monday, June 26.

The bill proposed to make changes to regulations to billboards and commissioners approved a resolution against the bill during a June meeting.

The bill, HB 581, did not pass by a 49-66 vote.

Commissioners said the bill would have affected local governments and the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT), so they unanimously approved a resolution to send to legislatures during their June 5 meeting.

The main impact if the bill had passed both the House and Senate would have been that local governments could lose control over the state allowing billboards to be illuminated as well as increased costs for local governments and the NCDOT for relocating billboards during construction projects.

Polk County currently has regulations banning billboards throughout the county, including I-26 and U.S. 74. Some billboards were grandfathered prior to the county’s ban.

County attorney Jana Berg explained earlier this month that the county’s ordinance prohibits billboards, but some were grandfathered. She said any billboards that were grandfathered in, if they need to be relocated, the county would have to pay for that relocation if the bill passed. She also said if the bill passed, it’s possible the grandfathered billboards in the county could be allowed to be illuminated.

The bill would have had to pass both the N.C. House and N.C. Senate to become law.