S.C. Department of Transportation officials have again blocked Myrtle Beach from planting trees along a city road because of billboards.

This time, the DOT has withdrawn a permit for work on Mr. Joe White Avenue, saying the city needs to ensure that newly planted trees won't block billboards. The city had hoped to plant oaks and palmettos on the median and the sides of the road.

City leaders said it's another example of the DOT supporting billboard companies over the city's attempts to plant trees.

DOT officials, however, said they are obligated to protect property owners' rights to put up billboards.

That's something the DOT does for any landscaping project on state right of way, according to Dennis Townsend, the DOT's District 5 engineering administrator. "This is pretty typical," he said. Townsend has an outdoor advertising coordinator on his staff to work on similar issues across the region.

Because the state owns the right of way, the city cannot plant anything until the state agrees. The DOT wants the city to keep a 300-foot view corridor between trees, so passing motorists can read the billboards.

"We, as a city, decided we wanted beautiful roads, landscaping and green space," said City Councilman Chuck Martino. "DOT obviously doesn't share our values. They want billboards instead of trees."

Because Mr. Joe White Avenue lies on state right of way, the DOT is fully within the law, City Manager Tom Leath said.

"It's their right and in their rules. They can tell us no," Leath said. Still, he said, "I find it highly distasteful that the highway department is working as an agent for the billboard companies."

The city will likely go along with the DOT's request.

"Some landscaping is better than no landscaping," Leath said.

The city is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the area's two largest billboard owners, ClearChannel and Coastal Outdoor Advertising, owned by Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc.

Eight years ago, based on residents' input, the city passed a resolution calling for stricter rules about the size, spacing and location of billboards. Scores of noncompliant billboards owned by both companies had seven years to comply. The two companies filed a lawsuit to block the removal in October, the deadline.

Last April, the DOT initially blocked permits that halted landscaping work on Kings Highway, saying the city needed to move or trim 48 trees along U.S. 501. City Council threatened to take the issue to court before DOT officials and city staff crafted a compromise.