Stevens Point billboard battle ends in advertiser's favor, Supreme Court rules.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

The Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with an advertising company in a billboard battle in Stevens Point. The justices decided Lamar Central Outdoor was unfairly asked to remove a billboard alongside Interstate 39.

The two-sided billboard was put up in1991 by a different advertising company, and Lamar bought it eight years later. During that time,the roadway changed from a highway to an interstate, and the billboard's status changed from "legal" to "legal, nonconforming" because its location didn't fit the specifications required by law.

In2012, the company applied for a permit from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to remove vegetation blocking part of the billboard. While reviewingthe permit application, theDOT discovered the billboard had been enlarged at one point, but later changed back to its original size. The DOT doesn't allow the enlargement of legal, nonconforming billboards, so the agency denied the permit. Shortly after, the DOT sent Lamar an order to remove the billboard, saying it didn't comply with statelaw.

Lamar requested a hearing before the Division of Hearings and Appeals. The company learned that the DOT had decided thatbecause the billboard was nonconforming, there was no way it could be made legal, in what was referred to as a no-cure policy. The DHA concluded Lamar had to remove the entire billboard. The company then filed a petition for judicial review of the DHA's decision, and a circuit court affirmed.

In an opinion released Thursday...