Bill Text: CA SB1470 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Outdoor advertising.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-06-24 - Placed on inactive file on request of Senator Leno. [SB1470 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB1470-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1470 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 11, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leno
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 5216.1 of, and to add Section 5412.5 to,
the Business and Professions Code, relating to outdoor advertising.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1470, as amended, Leno. Outdoor advertising.
The Outdoor Advertising Act regulates 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 provides that lawfully erected
advertising displays include displays that were erected in compliance
with state laws and local ordinances in effect at the time of their
erection or displays that were subsequently brought into full
compliance with state laws and local ordinances. The act provides
that an advertising display whose use is modified after erection in a
manner that causes it to become illegal is not a lawfully erected
display. The act requires compensation to be paid to the owner of a
lawfully erected advertising display if the display is compelled to
be removed or its customary maintenance or use is limited, except as
specified.
This bill would additionally provide that an advertising display
whose height, orientation, size, or technology is modified after
erection in a manner that causes it to become illegal is not a
lawfully erected display. The bill would provide that a lawfully
erected advertising display includes displays erected and maintained
in compliance with state laws, local ordinances, and local building
permit requirements in effect at the time of their erection and
displays that were subsequently brought into, and maintained in, full
compliance with state laws, local ordinances, and local building
permit requirements. The bill would authorize a civil action for
disgorgement of specified revenues against the owner, and any person
working in concert with the owner, of a display that is not lawfully
erected or that is subsequently altered in
violation of any state law, local ordinance, or local building permit
requirement. The bill would also make an owner of those displays
liable for a civil penalty up to $2,500 for each day the violation
continues and would require the court to consider specified factors
in assessing the amount of the civil penalty. The bill would require
moneys collected pursuant to these provisions to be paid to the
General Fund or to the treasurer of the city or county where a
judgment is entered and to the General Fund, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5216.1 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
5216.1. "Lawfully erected" means, in reference to advertising
displays, advertising displays that were erected and maintained in
compliance with state laws, local ordinances, and local building
permit requirements in effect at the time of their erection or that
were subsequently brought into, and maintained in, full compliance
with state laws, local ordinances, and local building permit
requirements. The term does not apply to any advertising display
whose use, height, orientation, size, or technology is modified after
erection in a manner that causes it to become illegal. There shall
be a rebuttable presumption pursuant to Section 606 of the Evidence
Code that an advertising display is lawfully erected if it has been
in existence for a period of five years or longer without the owner
having received written notice during that period from a governmental
entity stating that the display was not lawfully erected.
SEC. 2. Section 5412.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
5412.5. (a) (1) Whenever an advertising display located anywhere
in the state is not lawfully erected or whenever an advertising
display located anywhere in the state that was erected in
compliance with state laws, local ordinances, and local building
permit requirements in effect at the time of its erection is
subsequently altered is in violation of any
state law, local ordinance, or local building permit requirement, the
Attorney General, any district attorney or county counsel, or any
city attorney or city prosecutor may maintain a civil action against
the display owner and any person working in concert with the display
owner, for the disgorgement of all gross revenues from the
unlawful advertising display that are, during the time period the
display was illegally erected or altered, the display,
while the display was either not lawfully erected or in violation of
any state law, local ordinance, or local building permit
requirement, that are received by, or owed to, the display
owner and any person working in concert with the display owner, even
if the display was subsequently brought into full compliance with
state laws, local ordinances, and local building permit requirements.
(2) In addition to any disgorgement of gross revenues, the display
owner shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand
five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation of any relevant
state law, local ordinance, or local building permit requirement.
Each and every day a violation exists shall constitute a separate and
distinct offense. In assessing the amount of the civil penalty, the
court shall consider any one or more of the relevant circumstances
presented by any of the parties to the case, including, but not
limited to, the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, the number
of violations, the persistence of the misconduct, the length of time
over which the misconduct occurred, the willfulness of the defendant'
s misconduct, and the defendant's assets, liabilities, and net worth.
(b) If an action under this section is brought by the Attorney
General, the moneys collected shall be paid to the General Fund. If
the action is brought by a district attorney or county counsel,
two-thirds of the moneys collected shall be paid to the treasurer of
the county in which the judgment was entered and one-third shall be
paid to the General Fund. If the action is brought by a city attorney
or city prosecutor, two-thirds of the moneys collected shall be paid
to the treasurer of the city in which the judgment was entered and
one-third shall be paid to the General Fund. This subdivision shall
not apply to any costs awarded pursuant to subdivision (d).
(c) The procedures established in this section shall be in
addition to any criminal, civil, or other legal remedy established by
law.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if an action
results in the successful enforcement of this section, the agency
bringing the enforcement action may request the court to award the
agency its enforcement costs, including, but not limited to, its
reasonable attorneys' fees for pursuing the action.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section
strengthen the ability of local governments to enforce zoning
ordinances governing advertising displays.
