BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1117
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 25, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Alberto Torrico, Chairman
AB 1117 (Benoit) - As Amended: February 22, 2007
SUBJECT : Outdoor advertising
SUMMARY : Deems an advertising display erected by a city or
county to advertise businesses operating within a redevelopment
agency project area, or within a business improvement district
whose boundaries partly or wholly overlap those of the
redevelopment agency project area, to be on the premises at any
location within 1,000 feet of the legal boundaries of the
redevelopment agency's project area if the display meets certain
conditions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that an advertising display erected by a city or
county to advertise businesses operating within a
redevelopment agency project area, or within a business
improvement district, as defined, whose boundaries partly or
wholly overlap those of the redevelopment agency project area,
may be considered to be on the premises at any location within
1,000 feet of the legal boundaries of the redevelopment
agency's project area if all of the following conditions
apply:
a) No other display is erected in that city or county, as
specified.
b) No other display is erected within any redevelopment
project area the boundaries of which are within 1,000 feet
of the display, as defined.
c) The display complies with all requirements as defined.
d) The placement of the display will not necessitate the
immediate trimming, pruning, topping, or removal of
existing trees in order to make the display visible or to
improve visibility unless done as part of the normal
landscape maintenance activities that would have been
undertaken without regard to the placement of the display.
e) The display would not cause a reduction in federal-aid
highway funds, as provided.
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1)Provides that if the advertising display erected pursuant to
this section is removed for purposes of a transportation
project undertaken by the department, the display owner shall
not be entitled to monetary compensation for its removal.
2)Provides that any display erected pursuant to this section may
remain in place only until completion of the redevelopment
project, as specified.
3)Provides the display permit shall expire after five years
unless the business improvement district permit has been
renewed for an additional 10 years and the local government
requests an extension of the state permit, as specified.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Act, which regulates the placement of
advertising displays adjacent to and within specified
distances of highways that are part of the national system of
interstate and defense highways and federal-aid highways. The
Act prohibits any advertising display from being placed or
maintained on property adjacent to a section of a freeway that
has been landscaped if the advertising display is designed to
be viewed primarily by persons traveling on the main-traveled
way of the landscaped freeway.
2)Provides for limited exemptions and specified exceptions to
the prohibition on advertising along system and landscaped
freeways, including exemptions for signs advertising the
property's sale or lease, signs designating the premises or
its owner, and signs advertising goods or services
manufactured or produced on the property itself.
3)Allows a single advertising structure exemption for each of
several cities, including an exemption for advertising on
"street furniture" in San Francisco, several billboards
situated on the grounds of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
complex, and structures within the Mid-City Recovery
Redevelopment Project Area within Los Angeles.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
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Purpose of the bill . In essence, this bill was introduced to
allow the City of Riverside to erect a sign on city-owned
property adjacent to the 91 Freeway in order to advertise the
Riverside Plaza shopping complex.
According to the author, this bill is needed to highlight local
destinations in the area, in order to bring greater economic
activity into the community and the Riverside Plaza. Many
motorists passing through the area are unaware of the Riverside
Plaza, or do not think of it as a destination, simply because it
is located a few blocks off the 91 Freeway in Riverside.
The author notes that the City of Riverside planned to erect an
outdoor advertising sign on a city owned parcel adjacent to the
freeway where landscaping could not exist because of an
existing electric substation. However, the city was informed
by CalTrans that this particular segment of the 91 Freeway is
designated as a "Landscaped Freeway" pursuant to the Act. For
this reason, neither the Riverside Redevelopment
Agency nor the developer can erect a sign on this particular
section of freeway without intervention.
The author states that a sign to advertise the newly renovated
Riverside Plaza is imperative to ensure the success of this
redevelopment project, by attracting shoppers from adjacent
area's and the nearby freeway.
Proponents note that the Riverside Plaza, in the heart of
Riverside's Magnolia Center was constructed in the mid-1950s,
prior to the construction of the 91 Freeway, and was renovated
in the mid-1980s. Unfortunately, unlike its competitors, the
Riverside Plaza does not have exposure to the freeway and sales
have steadily declined. With the assistance of the Riverside
Redevelopment Agency, a developer demolished and rebuilt the
Center. Once this state-of the-art shopping complex is
complete, it is imperative that it have freeway exposure in
order to draw patrons to assure a successful economic future.
The Riverside Plaza is slated for numerous new
retail outlets in addition to Gottschalk's Department Store,
Trader Joe's, Savon Drugs, and Island's Restaurant.
Background . The Act regulates the placement of advertising
displays (i.e., billboards) and signs along interstate or
primary highways, landscaped freeways and similar specified
highways. It sets standards for the structures, including their
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size, identification and location, and requires compliance with
application procedures and conditions administered by Caltrans.
Under existing law, no billboards may be placed on property
adjacent to a section of freeway that has been landscaped.
Current exemptions include individual signs that: a) identify
development projects, business centers, or associations located
within the jurisdiction of, and sponsored by, the City of
Richmond to support economic development activities; b) identify
development projects, business centers, or associations located
within the jurisdiction of, or sponsored by, the City of Costa
Mesa to support economic development activities; and, c) is in a
city in Los Angeles County whose population is less than 17,000,
whose annual budget is less than $8 million, and whose area is
1.7 sq. miles (Artesia).
This bill would authorize an advertising billboard or structure
that is nonconforming to both the specifics and intent of the
Act, which is to limit or prohibit highway-adjacent advertising
structures. It would extend further the precedent for approval
of at least seven other similar billboard exemptions granted in
prior legislation since 1995.
Prior legislation .
AB 1499 (Benoit) of 2006. Creates an exemption to the Act, to
permit the City of Riverside to erect an outdoor advertising
display along Highway 91 to promote economic activity for the
Riverside Plaza. (Vetoed by Governor)
AB 801 (Jones) of 2006. Creates an exemption from the Outdoor
Advertising Act for one sign in the County of Sacramento.
(Vetoed by Governor)
AB 2441 (Klehs) of 2006. Authorizes an advertising display in
the redevelopment zone of the City of San Leandro subject to
specified conditions. (Vetoed by Governor)
AB 1518 (J.Horton) of 2006. Exempts, from the prohibition
against placing advertising displays adjacent to landscaped
freeways, any billboard located on property owned by the Lennox
School District, subject to certain conditions. (Died pending
Concurrence in Assembly)
AB 762 (Nunez), Chapter 725, Statutes of 2003, creates an
exemption to the Act by allowing the National Latino Arts
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Council to place an advertisement on the roof of a
not-for-profit educational academy.
SB 190 (Perata) Chapter 54, Statutes of 2001. Exempted a
certain development of highway advertising in Oakland from
existing laws protecting landscaped highways permitted the City
of Artesia to erect an advertising display alongside a
landscaped highway. Permitted the City of Artesia to lease one
billboard space adjacent to the 91 Freeway on city property.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City of Riverside
Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce
Riverside Plaza
Southwest California Legislative Council
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531