| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to outdoor advertising; amending s. |
| 3 | 479.106, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the |
| 4 | proximity of vegetation and beautification projects to |
| 5 | outdoor advertising signs; specifying distances that |
| 6 | constitute a view zone on the State Highway System and |
| 7 | expressways for outdoor advertising signs; authorizing the |
| 8 | Department of Transportation and owners of outdoor |
| 9 | advertising signs to enter into agreements identifying |
| 10 | view zone locations; requiring governmental entities and |
| 11 | other violators to pay for lost revenues or sign market |
| 12 | values for violation of view zone requirements; amending |
| 13 | s. 479.25, F.S.; allowing permitted, conforming, lawfully |
| 14 | erected outdoor advertising signs to be increased in |
| 15 | height if visibility is blocked due to construction of |
| 16 | specified noise-attenuation barriers; requiring sign |
| 17 | reconstruction to meet the requirements of the Florida |
| 18 | Building Code; requiring the issuance of local permits for |
| 19 | the reconstruction of signs, notwithstanding local |
| 20 | ordinances or land development regulations to the |
| 21 | contrary; requiring local governments or local |
| 22 | jurisdictions to pay just compensation for refusal to |
| 23 | issue a reconstruction permit; providing an effective |
| 24 | date. |
| 25 |
|
| 26 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 27 |
|
| 28 | Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 479.106, Florida |
| 29 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 30 | 479.106 Vegetation management.-- |
| 31 | (6) Beautification projects, trees, or other vegetation |
| 32 | shall not be planted or located in the view zone of an area which |
| 33 | will screen from view legally erected and permitted outdoor |
| 34 | advertising signs which have been permitted prior to the date of |
| 35 | the beautification project or other planting, where such planting |
| 36 | will, at the time of planting or after future growth, screen such |
| 37 | sign from view. For the State Highway System and expressways, the |
| 38 | view zone shall consist of 500 linear feet within the first 1,000 |
| 39 | feet as measured along the edge of the pavement in the direction |
| 40 | of approaching traffic from a point on the edge of the pavement |
| 41 | perpendicular to the edge of the sign facing nearest the highway. |
| 42 | For the State Highway System and expressways, the view zone shall |
| 43 | be a continuous 500 linear feet unless interrupted by existing, |
| 44 | naturally occurring vegetation. The department and the sign owner |
| 45 | may enter into an agreement identifying the specific location of |
| 46 | the view zone for each sign facing. In the absence of such |
| 47 | agreement, the view zone shall be defined as the first continuous |
| 48 | 500 linear feet from the sign. Any governmental entity or other |
| 49 | party violating this subsection shall pay to the sign owner a |
| 50 | penalty equal to the lesser of the revenue from the sign lost |
| 51 | during the time of the screening or the fair market value of the |
| 52 | sign. |
| 53 | Section 2. Section 479.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to |
| 54 | read: |
| 55 | 479.25 Application of chapter.--The owner of a lawfully |
| 56 | erected sign that is governed by and conforms to state and |
| 57 | federal requirements for land use, size, height, and spacing may |
| 58 | increase the height above ground level of such sign This chapter |
| 59 | does not prevent a governmental entity from entering into an |
| 60 | agreement allowing the height above ground level of a lawfully |
| 61 | erected sign to be increased at its permitted location if a |
| 62 | noise-attenuation barrier, visibility screen, or other highway |
| 63 | improvement is permitted by or erected by any governmental entity |
| 64 | in such a way as to screen or block visibility of the sign. |
| 65 | However, if a nonconforming sign is located on the federal-aid |
| 66 | primary highway system, as such system existed on June 1, 1991, |
| 67 | or on any highway that was not a part of such system as of that |
| 68 | date but that is or becomes after June 1, 1991, a part of the |
| 69 | National Highway System, the agreement must be approved by the |
| 70 | Federal Highway Administration. Any increase in height permitted |
| 71 | under this section may only be the increase in height which is |
| 72 | required to achieve the same degree of visibility from the right- |
| 73 | of-way which the sign had prior to the construction of the noise- |
| 74 | attenuation barrier, notwithstanding the restrictions contained |
| 75 | in s. 479.07(9)(b). A sign reconstructed under this section shall |
| 76 | comply with the building standards and wind load requirements set |
| 77 | forth in the Florida Building Code. A local government or local |
| 78 | jurisdiction must issue the permits required for the |
| 79 | reconstruction of a sign under this section, notwithstanding any |
| 80 | provision to the contrary contained in the ordinances or land |
| 81 | development regulations of the local government or local |
| 82 | jurisdiction. If the local government or local jurisdiction |
| 83 | refuses to issue the required permits for reconstruction of a |
| 84 | sign under this section, the sign may not be reconstructed and |
| 85 | the local government or local jurisdiction must pay just |
| 86 | compensation to the owner of the sign visibility screen, or other |
| 87 | highway improvement. |
| 88 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |