The Atlanta City Council is all set to vote on an bill to lift up the restrictions on lighted digital advertising and signage in the downtown Atlanta. The bill has been proposed by the Central Atlanta Progress (CAP), the new initiative would abolish the height limits for advertising and also open the door for usage of light projections and various other dynamic forms of the signage.

The goal of the bill would be to spirit up some of the quiet areas around the downtown district, spanning around 100 blocks between the Mitchell Street, Piedmont Avenue, Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, and also Northside Drive.

The new move is catching flack from several sides, with the downtown residents, urban planners, and also policymakers speaking out against the bill.

Dissenters question that whether the lighted billboards are really a proper fix for the current “dead zones” in downtown. While the flashing lights might be inherently dynamic, they do not do anything in order to bring the physical life onto the streets in the way that amenities like the usable park spaces, retail, or the residential does.

But still, CAP pushes the “Atlanta Arts and Entertainment District” proposal as a means to move the increased nighttime activity, activate the blank facades in the area, increase the property value through various forms of advertising revenue potential, and even raise the funds for public art installations.

The bill may be controversial, but it is a far new concept in Atlanta.

As far back as the year 2011, developers were pushing the “Times Square South” concept for the area around the Centennial Olympic Park.

If the bill is approved, and if the timeline works out, a bright new signage could reportedly be seen in place by the Super Bowl.

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Mrudula Duddempudi.