New Sign Laws

Over 5,000 bills are proposed to Congress every year, but only 5% to 10% of those bills are ever signed into law. As 2013 comes to a close, now’s a good time to briefly review the three major sign-related bills that were passed this year. These bills are:

  • SB 684 – Advertising displays: redevelopment agency project areas
  • SB 31- Outdoor advertising displays: arenas
  • SB 694 – Outdoor advertising: transit stations

SB 684 – Redevelopment Signage

This bill allows existing redevelopment signs to continue for at least for another 10 years, pursuant to Business & Professions Code Section 5273.

Full Text

SB 31 — Sports Arena Signage

Expands and clarifies that the sports arena advertising exception in the Outdoor Advertising Act applies to venues with:

  • a capacity of 15,000 seats or more capable of providing a permanent venue for professional sports, or
  • a contiguous development project or district encompassing or adjacent to the venue that extends not more than 1,000 feet from a structure connected to the venue, as specified

The advertising displays would be authorized to advertise any products, goods, or services sold within that area on a regular basis, or marketed or promoted in the area pursuant to a sponsorship marketing plan, as defined (except tobacco, firearms, or sexually explicit material), if specified conditions are met.

The bill additionally authorizes, under similar conditions, up to two advertising displays that are not required to comply with the act, which the bill would require to be visible when approaching offramps from the interstate, primary, or state highways used to access the premises of an arena.

The bill also requires that certain conditions apply if the advertising display is a message center display.

Full text

SB 694 — “Multimodal Transit” Signs

Exempts from certain provisions of the Outdoor Advertising Act an advertising display on public property, upon which is located a publicly owned “multimodal transit facility” that serves as a passenger rail station for the high-speed train system, as specified.

The bill imposes various conditions on an advertising display erected under these circumstances, including a requirement for a local ordinance regulating the display and approval by the High-Speed Rail Authority.

The bill requires revenues from the advertising display, beyond the cost of erection, to be used to support the construction, operation, and maintenance of the multimodal transit facility.

Full text

 

Information taken from the California Sign Association

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