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