BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 684
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: hill
VERSION: 4/1/13
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 30, 2013
SUBJECT:
Outdoor Advertising Act: former redevelopment agency project
areas
DESCRIPTION:
This bill amends the redevelopment agency exemption to the
Outdoor Advertising Act to reflect the elimination of
redevelopment agencies.
ANALYSIS:
Redevelopment Agencies
Historically, the Community Redevelopment Law allowed a local
government to establish a redevelopment area and capture all of
the increase in property taxes generated within the area over a
period of decades. These tax revenues were intended to address
the blighted nature of a project area, and if used effectively,
therefore, should have eventually ended the blight and become
unnecessary. Because of this, over time these project areas
were given expiration dates, generally up to 40 years following
their inception, until which they were able to collect tax
revenues and pay off debt.
In 2011, the Legislature enacted AB 26X (Blumenfield), Chapter 5
of the First Extraordinary Session. AB 26X eliminated
redevelopment agencies and established procedures for winding
down the agencies, paying off enforceable obligations, and
disposing of agency assets. In addition, AB 26X established
successor agencies, typically the city that established the
agency, to take control of all redevelopment agency assets,
properties, and other items of value. Successor agencies are to
dispose of an agency's assets as directed by an oversight board,
made up of representatives of local taxing entities, with the
proceeds transferred to the county auditor-controller for
distribution to taxing agencies within each county.
SB 684 (HILL) Page 2
The Outdoor Advertising Act
The Outdoor Advertising Act (OAA) regulates the size,
illumination, orientation, and location of advertising displays
adjacent to and within specified distances of interstate or
primary highways, and, with some exceptions, specifically
prohibits any advertising display from being placed or
maintained on property adjacent to a section of landscaped
highway.
The OAA generally does not apply to "on premise" advertising
displays, which include those advertising the sale of the
property upon which it is placed or that advertise the business
conducted, services rendered, or goods produced or sold on the
property. Local government regulates on-premise displays,
except for certain safety requirements.
Existing law includes a number of exceptions to the OAA and
assigns the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
the responsibility of reviewing and permitting signs which
qualify for these exceptions. Under the OAA, displays
advertising those businesses and activities within the
boundaries of an individual redevelopment agency project area
are considered on-premise displays for an initial period of 10
years or until the project area expires, whichever occurs first.
Caltrans may for good cause extend the permits for these signs
beyond the initial 10 years, but not beyond the life of the
redevelopment project.
This bill amends the redevelopment agency exemption to the OAA
to reflect the elimination of redevelopment agencies.
Specifically, this bill allows an existing advertising display
to be considered on-premise if the display:
Advertises those businesses and activities developed within
the former redevelopment agency project area boundaries, as
those boundaries existed on December 29, 2011;
Is located within the boundary limits of the project;
Was constructed, under construction, or approved for
construction by the designated agency of the project on or
before January 1, 2012; and
Does not cause the reduction in federal aid highway
funds.
Further, the bill allows existing displays to be considered
on-premise displays until January 1, 2023, or the expiration of
SB 684 (HILL) Page 3
the redevelopment project area, whichever comes first. Caltrans
can extend this exemption for good cause beyond 2023, not to
exceed the expiration of the project area, upon application of
the successor agency.
This bill places the responsibility on the designated successor
agency for ensuring these advertising displays are advertising
qualifying businesses, are otherwise being operated lawfully,
and remain in the public's best interest.
Finally, this bill has an urgency statute, meaning that it takes
effect immediately following the governor signing it into law.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill addresses an
issue inadvertently created when the Legislature eliminated
redevelopment agencies. Existing law allows Caltrans to
permit advertising displays as on-premises displays within
redevelopment project areas for a period of 10 years and
includes the possibility of extending those permits. Now that
the Legislature eliminated redevelopment agencies, there is no
mechanism to extend the permits for these signs. This bill
amends current law to allow these signs to continue to
function as on-premise displays and remain so as long as was
expected before the elimination of redevelopment.
2.Committee policy on exemptions to the OAA . Over the years,
legislators have introduced numerous bills to exempt stretches
of road from the OAA's prohibition against having an
advertising display along a landscaped freeway. Several years
ago, the committee determined that continued approval of
exemptions for nonconforming and prohibited advertising
displays threatened to undermine and render meaningless the
provisions and intent of the OAA. Therefore, in order to
defend the integrity of the OAA, the committee has adopted a
policy since the 2007-08 legislative session that states that
the committee will not consider any measure that would result
in the placement of an advertising display in violation of the
OAA. The committee agreed with the 18th century Scottish poet
James Thomson, who opined, "But who can paint like Nature?
Can imagination boast, amid its gay creation, hues like hers?"
In the current session, however, the committee has adopted a
slightly modified policy on exemptions to the OAA. In light
of recent legislative decisions, it has become clear that
SB 684 (HILL) Page 4
simply denying a hearing of bills related to the OAA does not
allow the committee to consider measures that reflect shifts
in statewide policy positions, such as the elimination of
redevelopment agencies. For this reason, the committee's
policy for the current session retains the prohibition against
hearing any measure exempting specific advertising displays
from the OAA, but includes the possibility of hearing bills
reflecting legislative changes to statewide policy. This is
one such bill.
3.Why do these signs get exemptions to the OAA ? Generally
speaking, local governments established redevelopment agency
project areas in blighted areas that required some additional
investment to address the blight. In theory, the investment
should eventually turn the neighborhood around and at some
point no longer be necessary. As mentioned earlier, this
theory led the Legislature to assign expiration dates to all
redevelopment areas, expecting them either to achieve success
and no longer be needed or acknowledge the problems are not
resolvable through increased investment alone.
According to proponents, legislation created the redevelopment
exemption to the OAA to allow businesses in these
less-desirable places to advertise for two reasons. First,
travelers on the landscaped freeway who may have been
reluctant to frequent the businesses in the area because of
the perceived blight would consider doing so as redevelopment
investment helped address the blight issues. Second, this new
advertising opportunity could be an additional tool to help a
struggling business in the project area become more
successful. In either case, the theory behind the expiration
of the redevelopment areas seems to hold true with the
expiration of the OAA exemption. At some point, either the
blighted area has improved to the point that the businesses no
longer need the unique competitive advantage provided by the
sign or the problems are too large for the signs to resolve.
4.Permits in a "post-redevelopment" world . As mentioned
earlier, Caltrans enforces the OAA, which includes activities
such as maintaining a list of landscaped freeways, issuing
permits for signs allowed by statute to exist, and fining
owners of non-compliant signs. Caltrans has issued 95 permits
for advertising displays along landscaped freeways in
redevelopment project areas throughout the state. Many of
these signs are currently or will soon be in existence longer
than 10 years and therefore have permits which need to be
SB 684 (HILL) Page 5
extended.
On April 11, 2013, Caltrans issued a "Notice of Redevelopment
Display Status Change." The notice indicates that successor
agency permission will allow continued operation of the
previously approved display, but that no new exemptions or
extensions will be given absent legislative action.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 24,
2013.)
SUPPORT: California Sign Association (co-sponsor)
League of California Cities (co-sponsor)
American Outdoor Advertising
Avant Outdoor Advertising
California New Car Dealers Association
California Professional Association of Specialty
Contractors
California State Association of Counties
City of Buena Park, Office of the Mayor
City of Huntington Beach
City of Inglewood, Office of the Mayor
City of Yorba Linda
G.B. Enterprises
Lloyd A. Wise Companies
Marina Media Vision
Superior Electrical Advertising
OPPOSED: California State Outdoor Advertising Association
SB 684 (HILL) Page 6