BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1298|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1298
          Author:   Blumenfield (D)
          Amended:  7/12/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 7/5/11
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, 
            Pavley, Rubio, Simitian

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  Not relevant


           SUBJECT  :    Regulation of mobile billboards

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill expands the ability of local 
          governments to regulate advertising on non-motorized 
          vehicles and allows local governments to regulate specified 
          advertising signs on motor vehicles parked or left standing 
          upon a public street.

           ANALYSIS  :    The California Vehicle Code (CVC) prohibits a 
          local government from enacting or enforcing any ordinance 
          on the matters covered by the code, such as parking, unless 
          the CVC expressly authorizes a local ordinance.  

          The CVC currently allows a local government to adopt an 
          ordinance regulating mobile billboard advertising displays. 
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           Such ordinances may set a schedule of penalties, including 
          impoundment when the owner parks or leaves standing the 
          display in violation of the ordinance.  In the event that 
          the local ordinance provides for impoundment, the law 
          allows the local government to provide notice either 
          through signage in the areas where the ordinance will be 
          enforced or by issuing a warning citation advising the 
          display owner of the penalties, including impoundment, for 
          subsequent violations.

          Current law defines a "mobile billboard advertising 
          display" as an advertising display that is attached to a 
          wheeled, mobile, non-motorized vehicle that carries, pulls, 
          or transports a sign or billboard and is for the primary 
          purpose of advertising.  This definition does not include 
          advertising displays on motor vehicles.

          This bill:

          1. Alters the definition of "mobile billboard advertising 
             display" to allow local governments to regulate 
             advertising displays on non-wheeled vehicles (i.e., 
             sleds, as opposed to trailers), devices, and advertising 
             displays attached to bicycles.

          2. Additionally allows local governments to regulate 
             advertising signs on any motor vehicle parked or left 
             standing upon a public street, except for signs painted 
             directly upon or permanently affixed to the vehicle for 
             permanent decoration, identification, or display that do 
             not extend beyond the overall length, width, or height 
             of the vehicle.

          3. Allows for impoundment of a vehicle parked or left 
             standing and displaying advertising in violation of a 
             local ordinance where the local government provides 
             notice either through signage in the areas where the 
             ordinance will be enforced or by issuing a warning 
             citation advising the vehicle owner of the penalties, 
             including impoundment, for subsequent violations.

          4. With respect to both mobile billboard advertising 
             displays and advertising on motor vehicles, allows local 
             governments to establish a minimum distance that an 

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             owner must move such a display after a specified time 
             period.

          5. Contains double-jointing language with SB 565 
             (DeSaulnier).
           
          Comments
           
           Purpose of this bill  .  The author is concerned with the 
          proliferation of mobile billboards that owners park 
          indefinitely on public streets.  He believes that such 
          mobile billboards constitute visual blight, reduce 
          available on-street parking, and impair the visibility of 
          pedestrians and drivers.  

          Last year, he authored AB 2756 (Blumenfield), Chapter 615, 
          Statutes of 2010, giving local governments the authority to 
          regulate advertising on non-motorized vehicles.  The owners 
          of such mobile billboards have already found loopholes in 
          AB 2756.  First, the law is limited to wheeled vehicles, so 
          advertisers have begun to use sleds.  Second, the law 
          excludes bicycles from the definition of "vehicle," so 
          advertisers have begun to attach billboards to bicycles.  
          Third, the law does not explicitly authorize locals to set 
          minimum distances that a vehicle must be moved between 
          parkings, so advertisers will move a vehicle as little as a 
          few inches in order to restart the clock.  In addition, AB 
          2756 did not allow for regulation of billboards attached to 
          motor vehicles.  

          This bill seeks to give local governments greater authority 
          over mobile billboards by closing the loopholes in AB 2756, 
          expanding local authority to regulate billboards attached 
          to motor vehicles parked on public streets, and allowing 
          local governments to set a minimum distance that an owner 
          must move such advertising displays to avoid citation or 
          impoundment.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/13/11)

          City of Los Angeles

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          League of California Cities


          JJA:kc  7/13/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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