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