BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1373| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1373 Author: Santiago (D), et al. Amended: 8/19/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/28/16 AYES: Beall, Cannella, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-6, 5/28/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Outdoor advertising: City of Los Angeles SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill 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, and a small, adjacent parcel if certain conditions are satisfied. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/16 add a triangular parcel, which is approximately 120 feet on each side and adjacent to the area identified in the bill, that houses an apprenticeship facility; codify sign spacing restrictions that are substantially similar to the restrictions contained in the existing contractual agreement between the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Federal Highway Administration AB 1373 Page 2 (FHA) to administer the federal Outdoor Advertising Control (OAC); and delete the urgency. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Establishes the OAA, which regulates the placement of advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances of highways that are part of the national system of interstates, 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. 3)Provides for limited exemptions 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)Provides that 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. 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 Caltrans to assess penalties for a violation of the AB 1373 Page 3 OAA, as specified. If an advertising display is placed or maintained in a location that does not conform to the relevant statutes or local ordinances, and is not removed within 30 days of written notice from the department, the city, or the county with land-use jurisdiction over the property upon which the advertising display is located, a penalty of $10,000 plus $100 for each day the advertising display is placed or maintained after the department sends written notice shall be assessed, and the gross revenues received by the violator shall be disgorged. Caltrans may also request recovery of its legal costs. 7)Provides, by contractual agreement, for Caltrans to administer the OAC program, which has restrictions similar to California's OAA program, including maximum sign size, sign spacing, location, illumination, and content. If the state fails to properly administer the federal program, the state shall lose 10% of its federal highway funding. This bill: 1)Provides an exemption from regulations of the OAA 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, and for an adjacent triangular parcel in the City of Los Angeles Bounded by West 8th Place, James M. Wood Boulevard, and Golden Avenue. 2)Requires the City of Los Angeles ordinance to provide for all of the following: a) Maximum number of signs and total signage allowed b) Maximum individual signage area c) Minimum sign separation d) Illumination restrictions e) Illuminated sign hours of operation 1)Requires that for the areas described in the bill, the advertising displays shall be at least 500 feet apart, unless separated by buildings or other obstructions, under specified AB 1373 Page 4 conditions. 2)Prohibits the advertising display from advertising products, goods, or services related to tobacco, firearms, or sexually explicit material. 3)Requires that the advertising displays authorized by this bill must be approved by either Caltrans or the FHA prior to placement. Comments 1)Purpose. According to the author, the purpose of this bill is to allow the use of revenue-generating advertising displays within a small area of downtown Los Angeles. The author believes this bill will spur the construction of needed hotels in support of the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Sports and Entertainment District, and the city's financial district. This bill also empowers the City of Los Angeles to control its urban streetscape and interface with the state highways bisecting its urban core, according to the author. 2)Where? The area affected by this bill is described by the author as a small area of downtown Los Angeles known as the Avenue of the Angels. It encompasses an area approximately eight blocks long adjacent to State Route 110 and Interstate 10. This area is a major entertainment and commercial area encompassing the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Staples Center, the Nokia Theatre, and a Marriott hotel. The area added by the recent Senate Floor amendments is a relatively small triangular parcel about 120 feet on each side that houses an apprenticeship facility. That parcel previously hosted an advertising display which has since been removed. The freeways in this area are among the most heavily traveled in the state, carrying about 20,000 cars per hour. 3)Conflicting goals. This bill creates a tension between the desire of Los Angeles to raise funds from billboards to support local development, and the responsibility of the state to ensure driver safety through the administration of state law and the federal OAC program. From the perspective of the AB 1373 Page 5 city, billboard revenue will be maximized with more signs that attract the attention of drivers, whether through the number of signs or their location, brightness, or attractive content. From the perspective of the state, catchier signs distract drivers, which will lead to more accidents and injury, particularly along a heavily traveled freeway with numerous merges, on-ramps, and off-ramps. 4)Caltrans enforcement. State law contains numerous billboard restrictions intended to prevent compromising driver safety and cluttering the freeway. These include restrictions on the sign size, location, and proximity to similar signs, lighting, and content. Many of these provisions are similar to those contained in federal law, originally established in 1965 through the Lady Bird Johnson Highway Beautification Act. In 1968, Caltrans entered into a contractual agreement with the FHA to implement and enforce federal law. The penalty for failure to enforce federal law is severe: loss of 10% of federal highway funds, with the potential to apply the penalty retroactively. In the face of such penalties, it is not surprising that Caltrans is doing a good job upholding its obligations under the contract. In 2012, the FHA reviewed Caltrans' effectiveness and was quite complimentary, specifically noting significant improvement since the prior FHA review. However, the review was not without suggestions for improved enforcement. 5)Green light. In order to avoid misunderstandings, costly litigation, and any potential for the state to lose federal highway funds, this bill provides that the advertising displays shall be preapproved by either Caltrans or the FHA. This will provide some flexibility for Los Angeles while ensuring that driver safety is not jeopardized by the displays. 6)Local control, state responsibility. This bill allows Los Angeles to develop its own billboard regulations, while the state retains the responsibility for enforcing the specific provisions of the federal OAC program. This gives Los Angeles some flexibility, though that flexibility is constrained by the federal OAC that restricts billboard spacing, location, size, illumination, and content. AB 1373 Page 6 7)Speech. Some opponents raise concerns that the prohibition against advertising firearms is unconstitutional. The language in this bill contains the same content restrictions as several prior bills, including SB 31 (Padilla, 2013), which passed both houses of the Legislature without a "no" vote on either floor (see Related/Prior Legislation below). Related/Prior Legislation SB 31 (Padilla, Chapter 542, Statutes of 2013) authorized advertising displays for products, goods, or services sold at specified arenas. SB 694 (Correa, Chapter 545, Statutes of 2013) authorized advertising displays at public transit terminals. AB 2339 (Solorio, Chapter 493, Statutes of 2008) authorized advertising displays at publicly owned sports arenas. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified8/22/16) Greenland USA Hanjin International Corporation OPPOSITION: (Verified8/22/16) California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight Endangered Habitats League Firearms Policy Coalition Scenic San Diego ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-6, 5/28/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bonilla, Bonta, AB 1373 Page 7 Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Bigelow, Chávez, Beth Gaines, Harper, Irwin, Obernolte NO VOTE RECORDED: Bloom, Grove, Nazarian Prepared by:Randy Chinn / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121 8/22/16 22:40:06 **** END ****