78(R) SB1952 - 2nd reading 86 (H)



	
SECTION _____.  Section 391.033, Transportation Code, is 
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and 
(d) to read as follows:
	(a) The commission may [purchase or] acquire by gift, 
purchase, agreement, exchange, or eminent domain outdoor 
advertising that is lawfully in existence on a highway in the 
interstate or primary system.
	(c) For purposes of this chapter, just compensation includes 
damages to remaining property, contiguous and noncontiguous, 
included in the interest of the owner of the outdoor advertising, 
that together with the property actually acquired by eminent domain 
constituted an economic unit.
	(d) Except as provided by this chapter, the commission may 
not require the removal or the relocation of outdoor advertising or 
that maintenance of outdoor advertising be discontinued unless at 
the time of removal, relocation, or discontinuance:
		(1) there is sufficient money, from any source, 
appropriated and immediately available to pay the just compensation 
required under this section; and
		(2) any federal money contribution under 23 U.S.C. 
Section 131, as amended, has been appropriated and made available 
to the state.
	SECTION _____.  Section 391.034, Transportation Code, is 
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
	(d) The department may remove outdoor advertising that is 
erected or maintained in violation of this chapter without payment 
of compensation to the owner or lessee.
	SECTION _____.  Subchapter C, Chapter 391, Transportation 
Code, is amended by adding Section 391.0651 to read as follows:
	Sec. 391.0651.  NOTICE OF AMENDED AND PROPOSED RULES.  The 
commission shall give written notice within a reasonable time to 
all outdoor advertising license and permit holders of any change or 
proposed change in rules adopted under this chapter.  The notice 
must be given not later than 60 days before the effective date of 
the change.
	SECTION _____.  Subsection (a), Section 391.181, 
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(a) The commission may acquire by gift, purchase, agreement,
exchange, or condemnation any right or property interest that it 
considers necessary or convenient to implement this chapter.
	SECTION _____.  Subtitle H, Title 6, Transportation Code, is 
amended by adding Chapter 398 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 398.  REGULATION OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING GENERALLY BY 
GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES
	Sec. 398.001.  DEFINITION.  In this chapter, "outdoor 
advertising" has the meaning assigned by Section 391.001.
	Sec. 398.002.  PROHIBITION OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING.  A 
governmental entity may not prohibit new outdoor advertising 
outside the jurisdiction or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a 
municipality.
	Sec. 398.003.  ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY THROUGH VOLUNTARY 
TRANSACTION.  A governmental entity that acquires property by gift, 
purchase, agreement, or exchange may not require that lawfully 
erected outdoor advertising located on the property be altered or 
removed from the property without the payment of just compensation.
	Sec. 398.004.  RELOCATION BECAUSE OF HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.  
(a) If any outdoor advertising use, structure, or permit may not be 
continued because of widening, construction, or reconstruction of a 
highway, the owner of the outdoor advertising is entitled to 
relocate the use, structure, or permit to another location:
		(1) on the same property;                                              
		(2) on adjacent property;                                              
		(3) on the same highway not more than 50 miles from the 
previous location; or
		(4) if the outdoor advertising is within a municipality 
or the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, within that 
municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
	(b) Relocation under this section shall be in accordance with 
applicable spacing requirements under this subtitle and shall be to 
a location where outdoor advertising is permitted under Section 
391.031.
	(c) The county or municipality in which the use or structure 
is located shall, if necessary, provide for the relocation by a 
special exception to any applicable zoning ordinance.
	(d) The relocated use or structure may be:                              
		(1) erected to a height and angle to make it clearly 
visible to traffic on the main-traveled way of the highway to which 
it is relocated;
		(2) the same size and at least the same height as the 
previous use or structure, but not in violation of any size or 
height requirement established under this subtitle; and
		(3) relocated to a location with a comparable vehicular 
traffic count.
	(e) Any governmental entity or quasi-governmental entity 
that acquires outdoor advertising by eminent domain or causes the 
need for the outdoor advertising to be relocated under this section 
shall pay the costs related to the acquisition or relocation.
	(f) If a governmental entity by regulation prohibits the 
relocation of outdoor advertising as provided under this section, 
the governmental entity shall pay just compensation as provided in 
Section 398.003.
	Sec. 398.005.  OBSTRUCTION OF VIEW AND READABILITY.  (a) If 
the view and readability of outdoor advertising are obstructed due 
to a noise abatement or safety measure, a grade change, 
construction, vegetation, an aesthetic improvement made by an 
agency of this state, a directional sign, or widening along a 
highway, the owner of the sign may:
		(1) adjust the height of the sign; or                                  
		(2) relocate the sign to a location within 500 feet of 
its previous location if the sign complies with the spacing 
requirements under this chapter and is in a location in which 
outdoor advertising is permitted under Section 391.031.
	(b) A county or municipality in which the outdoor advertising 
is located shall, if necessary, provide for the height adjustment 
or relocation by a special exception to any applicable zoning 
ordinance.
	(c) Notwithstanding any height requirements established 
under this subtitle, the adjusted or relocated outdoor advertising 
may be erected to a height and angle to make it clearly visible to 
traffic on the main-traveled way of the highway and must be the same 
size as the previous sign.
	Sec. 398.006.  NOTICE OF AMENDED AND PROPOSED RULES.  (a) A 
governmental entity shall give written notice to all outdoor 
advertising license and permit holders within its jurisdiction of 
any change or proposed change to the outdoor or off-premise 
advertising provisions of its zoning provisions, codes, or 
ordinances.  The notice must be given not later than 60 days before 
the effective date of the change.
	(b) A governmental entity must give written notice to all 
property owners along any highway or portion of a highway before 
adopting a prohibition of new outdoor advertising affecting that 
highway or portion of highway.  The notice must be given not later 
than 60 days before the effective date of the change.
	SECTION _____.  REGULATION OF OFF-PREMISE SIGNS.  
Notwithstanding any other law, a municipality that permits the 
replacement of a nonconforming off-premise sign by a new 
nonconforming off-premise sign owned by a person other than the 
owner of the replaced sign shall permit the owner of the sign that 
was removed to erect a comparable sign at a location designated by 
the owner of the displaced sign on property zoned for commercial, 
industrial, or manufacturing uses.