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PREVIOUSLY:

• Billboard in Elk River Wetlands Must Come Down, Humboldt Supervisors Say
• Planning Commission Denies Permit to Rebuild a Fallen Billboard South of Eureka
• In a Split Vote, Supervisors Move to Allow Fallen Elk River Billboard to Be Rebuilt, But it Must be Removed in Five Years

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The latest attempt by the owner of a local billboard company to keep an advertisement erect is a lawsuit filed against Humboldt County.

Allpoints Outdoor Inc is seeking compensation for the previously ordered removal of a sign (located south of Eureka near the Elk River) or for its permit to be extended, according to documents filed in Humboldt County Superior Court.

The company, owned by Geoff Wills, filed the lawsuit and a petition for a court order to quickly halt enforcement action in May.

The move follows multiple attempts on Wills’ part to keep the sign up. He did not return a phone call or email seeking comment by publishing time.

While the billboard is located in an area that would prevent the new construction of a billboard today, the billboard was previously considered legal nonconforming, called “grandfathered in,” meaning the sign could continue to exist. A billboard has been at that spot since 1959, according to the complaint.

But it fell over in a 2019 storm, and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors eventually gave the rebuilt billboard a special permit to exist for just five years in a 2020 decision.

The Board of Supervisors most recently denied Wills’ request to keep the billboard up in a February meeting. He’d sought to preserve the sign after time ran out on the special permit that ordered it be removed by September 2025.

During the February meeting, county staff said that the rules that allowed the structure to be grandfathered in were now irrelevant due to the special permit.

The Allpoints lawsuit broadly argues the billboard remains grandfathered in and repairs completed in 2021 did not constitute rebuilding. The complaint argues Wills didn’t get an appropriate opportunity to respond to a five-year time limit put in place by the Board. It states since the five-year limit was decided after the public comment period, he didn’t have meaningful opportunity to comment.

The lawsuit alleges the Board of Supervisors at the time didn’t make the call to allow him to rebuild based on evidence, but based it in part on having a short enough expiration date “so that current Board members could ensure that the billboard was removed while they were in office.”

The company seeks either fair market compensation for the billboard or for the permit to be extended. Allpoints is also seeking attorney fees and court protections against enforcement actions.

The lawsuit, filed by Sacramento-based law firm Avdis & Cucchi, LLP, alleges the board acted without evidence and in violation of state law, including the Outdoor Advertising Act.

A spokesperson for Humboldt County declined to comment, citing the integrity of the legal process. According to court records, the county hasn’t formally responded yet.

The Allpoints lawsuit claims the business expected to be compensated for the removal, or expected to be able to apply for an extension to the permit, and describes the situation as the billboard being terminated without compensation, notice or “opportunity to be heard.”

The complaint notes Wills has otherwise exhausted all administrative remedies available, clearing the way for legal action.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors barred all billboards in the coastal zone and in environmentally sensitive areas in 2024. Some, like environmental organization Humboldt Waterkeeper, see the trend away from billboards dominating the views off the highway as a win.

But as Wills has said during public hearings, his business relies on the signs. He would lose about $15,000 a year if this particular billboard is ordered destroyed, his attorney said during the latest hearing on the subject.

Many of the claims in the lawsuit are consistent with what Wills previously said at public hearings on the billboard. He has sought multiple appeals to decisions surrounding the sign over the years.

He also previously threatened to sue the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District for a policy banning new billboards, but the Outpost could not find evidence of legal action related to this in county court records.