By: Madla S.B. No. 1085
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2003; March 17, 2003, read
first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
Relations; May 7, 2003, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0;
May 7, 2003, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1085 By: Gallegos
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of outdoor advertising.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. 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 2. 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 3. 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 4. 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 5. 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. INTERFERENCE WITH MAINTENANCE OF OUTDOOR
ADVERTISING. (a) If the department, a county, municipality, or
other governmental entity, or a quasi-governmental entity prevents
the maintenance of existing outdoor advertising or requires that
the maintenance of existing outdoor advertising be discontinued,
the entity shall pay just compensation as if it had made an
acquisition by eminent domain.
(b) 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.
Sec. 398.004. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY THROUGH VOLUNTARY
TRANSACTION. A governmental entity that acquires property by gift,
purchase, agreement, or exchange may require that lawfully erected
outdoor advertising located on the property be altered or removed
from the property without the payment of just compensation.
Sec. 398.005. 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. 398.006. 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. 398.007. 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.
Sec. 398.008. EFFECT ON CERTAIN PLANS FOR COMPENSATION.
This chapter does not affect a municipal amortization plan to
compensate a sign owner authorized by Section 6, Article 1, Chapter
221, Acts of the 69th Legislature, Regular Session, 1985.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
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