Senate Bill sb1850c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1850
By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Peaden
596-2127-05
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to outdoor advertising;
3 amending s. 479.106, F.S.; prohibiting the
4 planting of trees or other vegetation that
5 screens a sign from view; providing the
6 criteria for a view zone; providing penalties
7 for violation; amending s. 479.25, F.S.;
8 authorizing the owner of a sign to increase the
9 height of the sign under certain circumstances;
10 deleting a requirement that certain signs be
11 approved by the Federal Highway Administration;
12 requiring that a reconstructed sign be in
13 compliance with the Florida Building Code;
14 requiring the department and local governmental
15 entity to issue permits for reconstruction,
16 notwithstanding rules or ordinances to the
17 contrary; providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 479.106, Florida
22 Statutes, is amended to read:
23 479.106 Vegetation management.--
24 (6) Beautification projects, trees, or other
25 vegetation may shall not be planted or located in the view
26 zone of an area which will screen from view legally erected
27 and permitted outdoor advertising signs which have been
28 permitted before prior to the date of the beautification
29 project or other planting when the planting will, at the time
30 of planting or after future growth, screen the sign from view.
31 The view zone consists of 500 linear feet within the first
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1850
596-2127-05
1 1,000 feet as measured along the edge of pavement in the
2 direction of approaching traffic from a point on the edge of
3 the pavement perpendicular to the edge of the sign facing
4 nearest the highway. The view zone is a continuous 500 linear
5 feet unless interrupted by existing naturally occurring
6 vegetation. The department and the sign owner may enter into
7 an agreement identifying the specific location of the view
8 zone for each sign facing. In the absence of an agreement, the
9 view zone is the first continuous 500 linear feet from the
10 sign. Any government entity violating this subsection must pay
11 to the sign owner a penalty equal to the lesser of the revenue
12 from the sign lost during the time of the screening or the
13 fair market value of the sign.
14 Section 2. Section 479.25, Florida Statutes, is
15 amended to read:
16 479.25 Application of chapter.--The owner of a
17 lawfully erected sign that conforms with state and federal
18 requirements for land use, size, height, and spacing
19 requirements may increase the height above the ground level of
20 the sign This chapter does not prevent a governmental entity
21 from entering into an agreement allowing the height above
22 ground level of a lawfully erected sign to be increased at its
23 permitted location if a noise-attenuation barrier, visibility
24 screen, or other highway improvement is erected in such a way
25 as to screen or block visibility of the sign. However, if a
26 nonconforming sign is located on the federal-aid primary
27 highway system, as such system existed on June 1, 1991, or on
28 any highway that was not a part of such system as of that date
29 but that is or becomes after June 1, 1991, a part of the
30 National Highway System, the agreement must be approved by the
31 Federal Highway Administration. Any increase in height
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1850
596-2127-05
1 permitted under this section may only be the increase in
2 height which is required to achieve the same degree of
3 visibility from the right-of-way which the sign had prior to
4 the construction of the noise-attenuation barrier,
5 notwithstanding the restrictions contained in s. 479.07(9)(b)
6 visibility screen, or other highway improvement. A sign
7 reconstructed under this section must comply with the building
8 standards and wind load requirements set forth in the Florida
9 Building Code. A local government or local jurisdiction must
10 issue the permits required for the reconstruction of a sign
11 under this section, notwithstanding any provision to the
12 contrary contained in the ordinances or land development
13 regulations of the local government or local jurisdiction or,
14 if the local government or local jurisdiction refuses to issue
15 the required permits for reconstruction of a sign under this
16 section, the sign may not be reconstructed and the local
17 government or local jurisdiction must pay just compensation to
18 the owner of the sign.
19 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.
20
21 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
22 Senate Bill 1850
23
24 This CS establishes law concerning "viewing zones" for
lawfully permitted outdoor advertising signs and requires any
25 governmental entity violating the established view zone
provisions to pay the sign's owner a penalty equal to the
26 lesser of lost revenue from the sign being blocked or the
sign's fair market value.
27
Additionally, this CS allows the owners of lawfully erected
28 outdoor advertising signs to increase the sign's height if a
noise wall blocks or screens the sign and specifies if a sign
29 is reconstructed for this purpose it must comply with the
Florida Building Code standards and wind load requirements.
30 This CS also specifies local governments are required to issue
permits, if necessary, to reconstruct these signs and those
31 local governments which refuse to issue such permits are
required to pay just compensation to the sign's owner.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.