A billboard at the foot of the Destin Bridge was being removed Wednesday morning, following the city’s enforcement of its billboard prohibition policy.
- According to city officials, this removal is part of Destin’s existing sign regulations that prohibit “off-premises” signs and prevent structural repairs to non-conforming billboards.
“When billboards age out, they will not be allowed to be repaired or replaced,” Mayor Bobby Wagner said.
The removal comes six months after the Destin City Council voted 5-2 to deny an ordinance that would have allowed agreements between the city and billboard companies to replace static billboards with digital versions in exchange for removing others.
- The proposed Ordinance 24-09-LC would have amended Article 16, Section 16.03.02 of the Land Development Code, permitting agreements if companies removed at least 45% of their existing signs.
During October’s council meeting, Councilman Jim Bagby, who moved to deny the ordinance, emphasized preserving Destin’s aesthetics.
“When you’re at the top of the Destin bridge… you don’t want to see billboards that make you think you’re in Vegas. You want to see the world’s luckiest fishing village,” Bagby said.
Lamar Advertising had offered to remove six billboards as part of a potential agreement and argued that state statute already authorized such agreements without requiring a code amendment. The billboard at the Marler (Destin) Bridge is Lamar’s and the lease ended December 2024.
9 Responses
Good it was an eyesore i hope they take down all there tacky billboards Destin used to be nice but its grown out of control now in there zest for trashy tourist they cant build fast enough its sad.
What about the wooden billboard on the south side of the highway on the west side of the bridge that faces west that says welcome to Destin the luckiest fishing village? That does not belong to a billboard company. When will it be removed?
Not a fishing village at all anymore . Its a snooty country club now. I grew up there and I can’t even stand the place anymore. But calling it a “fishing village” is like saying Hitler was an ok guy. It’s so far off base it’s just not ok to say. Back in the early 2000s maybe, but now there is not a house there for less than 800k, and there are NO NATIVES, they qre all rich retired northerners that have put Prada stores up.
Calling it a fishing village is like saying trump is a good president!
You’re correct, “good” is the wrong superlative in reference to Trump, Great or Excellent would be closer to the truth… I’m guessing that you’d have preferred Biden or Kamala had won the 2024 election?
I came to Destin in 1988 and I was so happy to have made the decision to raise my children here. But to be honest, ever since Peter Boss started building at the first traffic light across from Mcguire’s , everything changed in Destin. I left in 1991 for about 5months and when I came back I couldn’t believe how things changed. It was through the Grace of God that I found a 1 bedroom apt and me with my 2 young sons lived in that apartment for about a year. Then I had NO Choice to find a place in FWB. Now, I only go to Destin IF I REALLY have to. I said it years ago and I will say it again, Destin only cares about the $$$$$.
They won’t takedown the emerald grand either but hopefully a hurricane will eventually… They didn’t even drill down to bedrock when they built that pos… It’s straight up on shifting sand
Where is this? We have no Destin bridge.
We have the Marler bridge and the mid bay bridge.
How can we be a fishing village when we can’t even fish off our own dock ! Emerald Grande