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Agenda Item
S8 25-0781 Subject: Advertising Signs Relocation Agreement With Becker Boards
From: Councilmembers Ramachandran And Gallo
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution: (1) Authorizing The City Administrator To Negotiate Terms And Enter Into An Advertising Signs Relocation Agreement With Becker Boards, A California L.L.C. ("Becker") , With Such Agreement Including The Following: (A) Allowing Becker To Erect Up To Five New Advertising Signs At Certain Locations On Private Property In Exchange For Becker Causing The Removal Of Eleven Existing Advertising Faces At Various Locations In The City By Dates Certain, With Becker Waiving Its Rights To Just Compensation For The Removed Signs; (B) Requiring Becker To Make Payments In Advance Of Up To $2,357,500 For Fiscal Year 2025/2026, And Annual Payments Of Up To $750,000 For A Thirty-One Year Term With Escalations, In Addition To Providing Other Financial Incentives To The City Including Negotiated Carbon Offset And Beautification Fees; And (2) Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings
My name is Jessica Arline, and I represent UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. I’m here today to express our serious concerns regarding the proposed legislation that would permit the installation of large digital billboards near our hospital campus—including on or adjacent to three addresses along 52nd Street directly bordering the hospital.
We urge the Council to remove all proposed billboard sites near the hospital from this legislation.
Our concerns are rooted in patient safety and operational integrity:
• First, the placement of digital billboards in proximity to our trauma center and helipad poses a potential hazard to emergency air transport operations. We rely on clear flight paths for critically ill patients, and the introduction of bright, flashing digital signage presents unnecessary risks that have not been studied or vetted.
• Second, the visual and environmental intrusion of these structures is incompatible with the healing environment we strive to maintain for our pediatric patients and their families—many of whom are navigating highly stressful medical situations.
We are not opposing billboard modernization outright, but we strongly oppose their placement near critical health infrastructure.
Thank you for your time, and we respectfully request that the Council amend this legislation to remove all sites located near UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.
My name is Jessica Arline, and I represent UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. I’m here today to express our serious concerns regarding the proposed legislation that would permit the installation of large digital billboards near our hospital campus—including on or adjacent to three addresses along 52nd Street directly bordering the hospital.
We urge the Council to remove all proposed billboard sites near the hospital from this legislation.
Our concerns are rooted in patient safety and operational integrity:
• First, the placement of digital billboards in proximity to our trauma center and helipad poses a potential hazard to emergency air transport operations. We rely on clear flight paths for critically ill patients, and the introduction of bright, flashing digital signage presents unnecessary risks that have not been studied or vetted.
• Second, the visual and environmental intrusion of these structures is incompatible with the healing environment we strive to maintain for our pediatric patients and their families—many of whom are navigating highly stressful medical situations.
We are not opposing billboard modernization outright, but we strongly oppose their placement near critical health infrastructure.
Thank you for your time, and we respectfully request that the Council amend this legislation to remove all sites located near UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.