HB 1497CS

CHAMBER ACTION




1The State Infrastructure Council recommends the following:
2
3     Council/Committee Substitute
4     Remove the entire bill and insert:
5
6
A bill to be entitled
7An act relating to outdoor advertising; amending s.
8479.106, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
9proximity of vegetation and beautification projects to
10outdoor advertising signs; specifying distances which
11constitute a view zone for outdoor advertising signs;
12authorizing the Department of Transportation and owners of
13outdoor advertising signs to enter into agreements
14identifying view zone locations; requiring governmental
15entities to pay for lost revenues or sign market values
16for violation of view zone requirements; amending s.
17479.25, F.S.; allowing permitted, conforming, lawfully
18erected outdoor advertising signs to be increased in
19height if visibility is blocked due to construction of a
20noise attenuation barrier; requiring sign reconstruction
21to meet Florida Building Code requirements; requiring the
22issuance of local permits for the reconstruction of signs
23notwithstanding local ordinances or land development
24regulations to the contrary; requiring local governments
25or local jurisdictions to pay just compensation for
26refusal to issue a reconstruction permit; providing an
27effective date.
28
29Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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31     Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 479.106, Florida
32Statutes, is amended to read:
33     479.106  Vegetation management.--
34     (6)  Beautification projects, trees, or other vegetation
35shall not be planted or located in the view zone of an area
36which will screen from view legally erected and permitted
37outdoor advertising signs which have been permitted prior to the
38date of the beautification project or other planting, where such
39planting will, at the time of planting or after future growth,
40screen such sign from view. The view zone shall consist of 500
41linear feet within the first 1,000 feet as measured along the
42edge of the pavement in the direction of approaching traffic
43from a point on the edge of the pavement perpendicular to the
44edge of the sign facing nearest the highway. The view zone shall
45be a continuous 500 linear feet unless interrupted by existing,
46naturally occurring vegetation. The department and the sign
47owner may enter into an agreement identifying the specific
48location of the view zone for each sign facing. In the absence
49of such agreement, the view zone shall be defined as the first
50continuous 500 linear feet from the sign. Any governmental
51entity violating this provision shall pay to the sign owner a
52penalty equal to the lesser of the revenue from the sign lost
53during the time of the screening or the fair market value of the
54sign.
55     Section 2.  Section 479.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to
56read:
57     479.25  Application of chapter.--The owner of a lawfully
58erected sign that conforms to state and federal requirements for
59land use, size, height, and spacing may increase the height
60above ground level of such sign This chapter does not prevent a
61governmental entity from entering into an agreement allowing the
62height above ground level of a lawfully erected sign to be
63increased at its permitted location if a noise-attenuation
64barrier, visibility screen, or other highway improvement is
65erected in such a way as to screen or block visibility of the
66sign. However, if a nonconforming sign is located on the
67federal-aid primary highway system, as such system existed on
68June 1, 1991, or on any highway that was not a part of such
69system as of that date but that is or becomes after June 1,
701991, a part of the National Highway System, the agreement must
71be approved by the Federal Highway Administration. Any increase
72in height permitted under this section may only be the increase
73in height which is required to achieve the same degree of
74visibility from the right-of-way which the sign had prior to the
75construction of the noise-attenuation barrier, notwithstanding
76the restrictions contained in s. 479.07(9)(b). A sign
77reconstructed under this section shall comply with the building
78standards and wind load requirements set forth in the Florida
79Building Code. A local government or local jurisdiction must
80issue the permits required for the reconstruction of a sign
81under this section, notwithstanding any provision to the
82contrary contained in the ordinances or land development
83regulations of the local government or local jurisdiction or, if
84the local government or local jurisdiction refuses to issue the
85required permits for reconstruction of a sign under this
86section, the sign may not be reconstructed and the local
87government or local jurisdiction must pay just compensation to
88the owner of the sign visibility screen, or other highway
89improvement.
90     Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.