BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
AB 1373
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Adam Gray, Chair
AB 1373
(Santiago) - As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUBJECT: Outdoor advertising: City of Los Angeles
SUMMARY: Provides an exemption from regulations of the Outdoor
Advertising Act (OAA or Act) for signs allowed by a City of Los
Angeles ordinance in relation to the number and location of
billboards in an area bounded by West 8th Street on the
northeast, South Figueroa Street on the southeast, Interstate 10
on the southwest, and State Route 110 on the northwest if
certain conditions are satisfied. Specifically, this bill:
1) Exempts from specific provisions of the OAA, any advertising
display located in the geographic area in the City of Los
Angeles bounded by W. 8th Street on the northeast, S. Figueroa
Street on the southeast, Interstate 10 on the southwest, and
State Route 110 on the northwest, if all of the following
conditions are met:
a) The advertising display is authorized by, or in
accordance with, an ordinance, including, but not limited
to, a specific plan or sign district, adopted by the City
of Los Angeles that regulates advertising displays by
identifying the specific displays or establishing
regulations that include, at a minimum, all of the
following:
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i. Number of signs and total signage area
allowed.
ii. Maximum individual signage area.
iii. Minimum sign separation.
iv. Illumination restrictions and regulations,
including signage refresh rate, scrolling, and
brightness.
v. Illuminated sign hours of operation.
2) Specifies that the owner of the advertising display has
submitted to the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) a copy of the ordinance adopted by the City of Los
Angeles authorizing the advertising display and identification
of the provisions of the ordinance required, as defined and the
department has certified that the ordinance meets designed
minimum requirements.
3) Provides the advertising display will not advertise
products, goods, or services related to tobacco, firearms, or
sexually explicit material.
4) Provides this bill would not limit the City of Los Angeles
from adopting ordinances prohibiting or further restricting the
size, number, or type of advertising displays permitted by this
legislation.
5) Provides that if the advertising display is a message
center, the owner of the display shall do one of the following:
(a) Makes the message center display available on a
space-available basis for use by Caltrans or the Department
of the California Highway Patrol for public service
messages, including Emergency Alert System (Amber Alert)
messages, as defined, and messages containing, among other
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things, reports of commute times, drunk driving awareness
messages, reports of accidents of a serious nature, and
emergency disaster communications.
(b) Makes a message center display not subject to the
provision that is under the control of the owner of the
advertising display available on a space-available basis
for public service messages in a location acceptable to
Caltrans and the Department of the California Highway
Patrol.
(c) Provides funding to Caltrans for the installation of a
message center display to accommodate those public service
messages, which may include funding as part of mitigation
in connection with the approval of development of the
property on which the message center display is located by
the City of Los Angeles.
6) Provides that if an advertising display is subject to a
notice from the United States Department of Transportation,
Federal Highway Administration, or other applicable federal
agency to the state that the operation of that display will
result in the reduction of federal funds, as provided,
authorization of the display would cease 60 days after the state
notifies the display owner of the receipt of the federal notice,
and would require the display owner to remove all advertising
copy within that time or be subject to specified civil fines.
7) Makes the City of Los Angeles primarily responsible for
ensuring that a display remains in compliance with the ordinance
and the bill's requirements, and would require the city to
indemnify and hold Caltrans harmless if the city fails to do so.
8) Makes findings and declarations as to the need for a special
statute relating to the City of Los Angeles.
EXISTING LAW:
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1) Establishes OAA, which regulates the placement of
advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances
of highways that are part of the national system of interstate
and defense highways and federal-aid highways.
2) Prohibits any advertising display from being placed or
maintained on property adjacent to a section of a freeway that
has been landscaped if the advertising display is designed to be
viewed primarily by persons traveling on the main-traveled way
of the landscaped freeway. The Act, however, only applies to
signs that are located within 660 feet of the right-of-way of
federal-aid interstate and primary highways.
3) Provides for limited exemptions and specified exceptions to
the prohibition on advertising along system and landscaped
freeways, including exemptions for signs advertising the
property's sale or lease, signs designating the premises or its
owner, and signs advertising goods or services manufactured or
produced on the property itself.
4) 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.
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5) Allows a single advertising structure exemption for each of
several cities, including an exemption for advertising on
"street furniture" in San Francisco, several billboards situated
on the grounds of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex,
and structures within the Mid-City Recovery Redevelopment
Project Area within Los Angeles.
6) Requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to
assess penalties for a violation of the OAA, as specified. If
an advertising display is placed or maintained in a location
that does not conform to the provisions of this chapter or local
ordinances, and is not removed within thirty days of written
notice from the department or the city or the county with land
use jurisdiction over the property upon which the advertising
display is located, a penalty of ten thousand dollars ($10,000)
plus one hundred dollars ($100) for each day the advertising
display is placed or maintained after the department sends
written notice shall be assessed.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill : According to the author, this bill
proposes to allow for the use of revenue-generating advertising
displays within a small area of Downtown Los Angeles with the
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City of Los Angeles consent.
The author's office states, according to a recent report, the
City of Los Angeles has lost $5 billion in economic development
over the last four years alone due to a lack of hotel rooms and
an outdated Los Angeles Convention Center. Studies have shown
that an additional two to three thousand-hotel rooms together
with hotel facilities such as meeting and banquet rooms are
needed to fully support the Convention Center.
According to the information provided by the author, the Los
Angeles' Metropolis Project (Project) is a 6.3-acre, $1 billion
development adjacent to LA Live that has taken nearly three
decades to come to fruition. The development, which broke
ground in the summer of 2014, will be composed of four towers:
1) an 18-story boutique hotel - Hotel Indigo - set to open in
October 2016; 2) a 38-story residential tower; 3) a 40-story
residential tower; and 4) a 52-story residential tower.
The Project is expected to bring $156.7 million in tax revenue
into the City over the next 25 years, 20,000 construction jobs
over the next four or five years, and 500 permanent jobs upon
completion. The project will also add 350 hotel rooms (with
meeting and event facilities), substantial restaurant and retail
space, as well as 1,560 residential units to the Convention
Center area. In addition, AEG recently announced a 755-room
expansion of its Marriott Hotel located at LA Live between the
Convention Center and the Metropolis Project.
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The author states, this measure will spur the construction of
needed hotels in support of the City's Convention Center, the
Sports & Entertainment District, and the Project's link to the
City's financial district. It also empowers the City of Los
Angeles to control its urban streetscape and interface with the
state highways bisecting its urban core. With the completion of
the Project, the expansion and revitalization of the Convention
Center, and the addition of hotel rooms in the Sports and
Entertainment District, over the next several years, the area
covered by this bill will become a central tourist, convention,
sports, and entertainment destination for people from all over
the world.
The author points out, this bill only affects signage within the
few blocks east of Interstate 110, north of Interstate 10, south
of 8th Street, and west of Figueroa Street in the City of Los
Angeles. These blocks are very different from other
freeway-facing areas in California in that they are highly
urbanized and contain a dense proliferation of convention,
entertainment, sports, and hotel uses. This measure retains
local control by allowing the City of Los Angeles to determine
the amounts and types of safe signage to be placed at its
gateway. It also allows the City of Los Angeles to require
public benefits that enhance traffic safety and aesthetics in
the streets within and surrounding the area.
The author points out that this bill additionally requires any
corresponding ordinance within the City of Los Angeles to
include protections to prevent signage from becoming overly
distracting, misleading, or disruptive. This corresponds with
similar limitations set forth in the OAA. For large
developments - especially those that fall within the sports and
entertainment industries - the ability to generate revenue via
the use of near-freeway signage for off-site sponsors
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dramatically decreases the overhead costs of construction
projects to taxpayers.
The author concludes that this bill is an important step towards
ensuring that current and future developments within the
revitalized Downtown Los Angeles area will be able to tap into
this increasingly critical financing source to backfill the
decrease in public funding available for such purposes.
Background:
Outdoor Advertising Act : The Act regulates the placement of
advertising displays (i.e., billboards) and signs along
interstate or primary highways, landscaped freeways and similar
specified highways. The OAA must also generally conform to
various federal laws, including the Highway Beautification Act
of 1965 (23 USC Section 131 et seq.).
The OAA sets standards for the structures, including their size,
identification and location, and requires compliance with
application procedures and conditions administered by the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The Act prohibits any
advertising display from being placed or maintained on property
adjacent to a section of a freeway that has been landscaped if
the advertising display is designed to be viewed primarily by
persons traveling on the main-traveled way of the landscaped
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freeway.
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.
While state and federal law generally regulates billboards and
similar advertising displays, local governments may also impose
restrictions equal to or greater than any restriction imposed by
state law, but local governments may not allow a display that is
in violation of state law. Local governments are also entitled
to a portion of fees and fines under the state law, and they may
also require advertisers to obtain licenses and permits, in
addition to any licenses required by state law.
The OAA provides for general exemptions and specified exceptions
to the prohibition on advertising along landscaped freeways,
including exemptions for signs advertising the property's sale
or lease, signs designating the premises or its owner, and signs
advertising goods or services manufactured or produced on the
property itself. In addition, since 1995, a number of bills
have created exemptions for specific cities, including an
exemption for advertising on "street furniture" in San
Francisco, five signs situated on the property of the
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Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex, one sign each in the
cities of Costa Mesa and Richmond, and four signs within the
Mid-City Recovery Redevelopment Project Area within Los Angeles.
Federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965 : The Highway
Beautification Act (HBA) was created to protect the public
investment, promote the safety and recreational value of public
travel, and to preserve the natural beauty of highways in the
nation.
HBA specifies that states have the responsibility to enforce
provisions regarding the placement and maintenance of outdoor
advertising signs, displays and devices along the Interstate and
National Highway System. The state of California enforces the
provisions of federal law through a compact that was developed
between the state and the federal government in 1967. Federal
law also includes a penalty for states that violate HBA by
reducing all federal highway transportation funds by a
designated percentage.
Policy issue : This bill might authorize the placement of an
advertising sign that is non-conforming to both the specifics
and intent of the OAA. It might extend further the precedent
for legislative approval of exemptions to OAA. Exemptions for
nonconforming and prohibited billboards and lighted signs along
interstate or primary highways and landscaped freeways might
undermine and render meaningless the provisions and intent of
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the OAA.
Prior legislation : SB 31 (Padilla), Chapter 542, Statutes of
2013. Recasts an arena advertising exception to exempt from the
OAA specified advertising displays authorized before January 1,
2019, by local ordinance, at a venue with a capacity of 15,000
seats or more that is capable of providing a permanent venue for
professional sports. In essence, the bill allows for local
control while establishing statewide guidelines for advertising
displays at professional sports facilities and arenas.
SB 684 (Hill), Chapter 544, Statutes of 2013. Amended the
redevelopment agency (RDA) exemption to OAA to reflect the
elimination of redevelopment agencies. (Held in Senate
Transportation)
SB 694 (Correa), Chapter 545, Statutes of 2013. Exempted, from
the OAA, advertising displays at a publicly owned multimodel
transit facility (MTF) that is to serve as a station for the
high-speed train system, as specified, and requires revenues
from the advertising display to be used to support the
construction, operation, and maintenance of the MTF.
AB 2566 (Hill), 2011-12 Legislative Session. Would have
provided an exemption from the regulations of the OAA for an
advertising display located on State Route 1, in the County of
San Mateo, if certain conditions are satisfied.
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SB 402 (Vargas), 2011-12 Legislative Session. Would have
provided an exemption from the regulations of the OAA for an
advertising display located within 1,800 feet of the
intersection of State Highway Routes 8 and 111 in the County of
Imperial if certain conditions are satisfied. (Senate Rules
Committee)
AB 2756 (Blumenfield), Chapter 615, Statutes of 2010. Defines
"mobile billboard advertising display" and allows a local
authority to regulate these displays.
AB 2339 (Solorio), Chapter 493, Statutes of 2008. Expanded the
definition of an "on premise" display to include those displays
advertising products, goods, or services sold on the premises of
an arena of at least 5,000 seats and is located on public land,
provided certain conditions were met.
AB 1117 (Benoit) of 2007, would have deemed an advertising
display erected by a city or county to advertise businesses
operating within a redevelopment agency project area, or within
a business improvement district whose boundaries partly or
wholly overlap those of the redevelopment agency project area,
to be on the premises at any location within 1,000 feet of the
legal boundaries of the redevelopment agency's project area
if the display meets certain conditions. (Died - Never heard in
Senate Local Government Committee)
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AB 563 (Ridley-Thomas) of 2007, would have deleted the
"rebuttable presumption" in current law that deems those
advertising displays that were unlawfully erected as lawful if
the sign owner had not received notice that the display was
unlawful within five years of the display being erected. This
bill also would have deleted the requirement that entities
requiring the removal of unlawfully erected signs pay sign
owners just compensation to do so. (Died in Senate Rules
Committee)
AB 1499 (Benoit) of 2006, would have created an exemption to the
Act, to permit the City of Riverside to erect an outdoor
advertising display along Highway 91 to promote economic
activity for the Riverside Plaza. (Vetoed by Governor)
AB 801 (Jones) of 2006, would have created an exemption from the
OAA for one sign in the County of Sacramento. (Vetoed by
Governor)
AB 2441 (Klehs) of 2006, would have authorized an advertising
display in the redevelopment zone of the City of San Leandro
subject to specified conditions. (Vetoed by Governor)
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AB 1518 (J. Horton) of 2006, would have exempted, from the
prohibition against placing advertising displays adjacent to
landscaped freeways, any billboard located on property owned by
the Lennox School District, subject to certain conditions. (Died
pending concurrence in the Assembly)
AB 762 (Nuņez), Chapter 725, Statutes of 2003. Created an
exemption to the OAA by allowing the National Latino Arts
Council to place an advertisement on the roof of a
not-for-profit educational academy.
SB 190 (Perata), Chapter 54, Statutes of 2001. Exempted from
the OAA the prohibition against placing advertising displays
adjacent to landscaped freeways, up to five advertising
structures or signs (billboards) used to support the
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
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Greenland USA
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531