BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1298|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
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.
CONTINUED
AB 1298
Page
2
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
CONTINUED
AB 1298
Page
3
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
CONTINUED
AB 1298
Page
4
League of California Cities
JJA:kc 7/13/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED