BILL ANALYSIS �
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 402
Author: Vargas (D)
Amended: 9/2/11
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Outdoor advertising: exemptions
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill provides an exemption from the
regulations of the Outdoor Advertising 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.
Assembly Amendments delete the Senate version of the bill,
which dealt with curriculum framework, and instead add the
current language.
ANALYSIS : Existing Law :
1. Establishes Outdoor Advertising Act (Act), 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. The Act prohibits
CONTINUED
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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.
This bill 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:
1. 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.
2. No more than three displays are placed by the owner or
person in control or possession of the property, as
defined.
3. The placement of the display will not necessitate
trimming, pruning, topping, or removal of existing trees
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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.
4. The display would not cause a reduction in federal-aid
highway funds, as provided.
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 authorizes 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
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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.
Prior Legislation
AB 1117 (Benoit), of 2007-08 Session, 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 2007-08 Sesssion, 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 2005-06 Session, 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 2005-06 Session, would have created an
exemption from the Outdoor Advertising Act for one sign in
the County of Sacramento. (Vetoed by Governor)
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AB 2441 (Klehs) of 2005-06 Session, would have authorized
an advertising display in the redevelopment zone of the
City of San Leandro subject to specified conditions.
(Vetoed by Governor)
AB 1518 (J. Horton) of 2005-06 Session, 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. Permits the City of Artesia to lease
one billboard space adjacent to the 91 Freeway on city
property.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/8/11)
Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation
Jack Terraza, Chairman - District 2, Imperial County Board
of Supervisors
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
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 Act, 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
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by marketing to the interstate traffic. The author's
office 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 available to secure an exemption from the Act.
JJA:do 9/8/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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