BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 402
Page 1
Date of Hearing: September 1, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Isadore Hall, Chair
SB 402 (Vargas) - As Amended: August 31, 2011
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
SUMMARY : Provides an exemption from the regulations of the
Outdoor Advertising Act (OAA or Act) 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. Specifically this bill :
1)Exempts an advertising display located within a distance of
1,800 feet of the intersection of State Highway Routes 8 and
111 in the County of Imperial, if all of the following
conditions are met:
a) Written evidence is provided to the California
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) indicating that
both the owner or person in control or possession of the
property upon which the advertising display is to be
located and the city or county with land use jurisdiction
over that property have consented to the placing of the
display;
b) No more than three displays are placed by the owner or
person in control or possession of the property, as
defined;
c) The placement of the display will not necessitate
trimming, pruning, topping, or removal of existing trees in
order to make the display visible or to improve visibility
unless done as part of the normal landscape maintenance
activities that would have been undertaken without regard
to the placement of the display; and,
d) The display would not cause a reduction in federal-aid
highway funds, as provided.
EXISTING LAW :
1) Establishes OAA, which regulates the placement of
advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances
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of highways that are part of the national system of interstate
and defense highways and federal-aid highways. 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 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.
2) 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.
3) 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, there are no significant costs associated
with this legislation.
COMMENTS : SB 402 was a gut and amend in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee. The bills subject matter was never
heard in an Assembly policy committee this legislative session.
Purpose of the bill : According to the author, this bill will
clean-up an outstanding issue pertaining to unresolved state
issues involving four billboards in Imperial Country which were
authorized and permitted by the county in 1994. By granting an
exemption to the OAA, these billboards will help generate much
needed revenue and commerce for the area. The intrinsic value
of these billboards will translate into economic value to the
impacted communities through increased commercial activity by
marketing to the interstate traffic. The author maintains,
anything that can be done to promote and help local businesses
will ultimately create an economic value in the area.
A legislative remedy is seen by proponents as the only option
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available to secure an exemption from the OAA.
Background : The Act regulates the placement of advertising
displays (i.e., billboards) and signs along interstate or
primary highways, landscaped freeways and similar specified
highways. It sets standards for the structures, including their
size, identification and location, and requires compliance with
application procedures and conditions administered by 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 freeway.
Current exemptions include individual signs that: 1) identify
development projects, business centers, or associations located
within the jurisdiction of, and sponsored by, the City of
Richmond to support economic development activities; 2)
identify development projects, business centers, or associations
located within the jurisdiction of, or sponsored by, the City of
Costa Mesa to support economic development activities; and, 3)
is in a city in Los Angeles County whose population is less than
17,000, whose annual budget is less than $8 million, and whose
area is 1.7 square miles (Artesia).
This bill would authorize an advertising billboard or structure
that is nonconforming to both the specifics and intent of the
Act, which is to limit or prohibit highway-adjacent advertising
structures.
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.
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Policy issues : SB 402 would authorize the placement of an
advertising sign that is nonconforming to both the specifics and
intent of the OAA. It would extend further the precedent for
legislative approval of exemptions to OAA. Exemptions for
nonconforming and prohibited billboards and lighted signs
adjacent to landscaped freeways might undermine and render
meaningless the provisions and intent of the OAA and may impact
federal funding.
In addition, prior chaptered legislation included "boilerplate
language" which stated that "the advertising display does not
advertise products, goods, or services that are directed at an
adult population, including, but not limited to, alcohol,
tobacco, gambling, or sexually explicit material."
Prior legislation : 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)
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 deletes 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
Outdoor Advertising Act for one sign in the County of
Sacramento. (Vetoed by Governor)
AB 2441 (Klehs) of 2006, would have authorized an advertising
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display in the redevelopment zone of the City of San Leandro
subject to specified conditions. (Vetoed by Governor)
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 (Nu�ez), Chapter 725, Statutes of 2003, creates an
exemption to the Act 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, exempts a certain
development of highway advertising in Oakland from existing laws
protecting landscaped highways permitted the City of
Artesia to erect an advertising display alongside a landscaped
highway. Permitted the City of Artesia to lease one billboard
space adjacent to the 91 Freeway on city property.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation
Jack Terraza, Chairman - District 2, Imperial County Board of
Supervisors
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531