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 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.