Proposed Law Before N.C. General Assembly Would Overhaul State's Billboard And Outdoor Advertising Laws

Filed March 17, 2015, Senate Bill 320 (linked) proposes significant revisions to State laws governing billboards and outdoor advertising. In this post, we review some of the changes that would result from Senate Bill 320 in its current form.

Local governments, lessors to billboard companies and billboard companies, alike, will want to take notice.

Policy Language

SB 320 would add new, strong policy language to existing N.C.G.S. 136-127, which sets the tone of the proposed changes in SB 320. SB 320 declares outdoor advertising and billboards "an integral part" of commerce "that must be allowed to exist and operate", and requires the "preservation" and "fostering" of outdoor advertising and billboards. You can see where these proposed changes are headed.

Local Ordinances

NCDOT could no longer deny a billboard permit application because the outdoor advertising or billboard does not comply with local development regulations, nor could NCDOT deny a billboard permit for a location outside a commercial or industrial area pursuant to the "customary use" doctrine. The "customary use doctrine" is defined as: "Compliance with the specific outdoor advertising standards for size, lighting, and spacing in areas zoned industrial or commercial under authority of State law or in unzoned industrial or commercial areas, as the standards and areas are described and defined in the agreement dated January 7, 1972, as amended, and entered into between the State and the United States Department of Transportation under G.S. 136-138 to implement the provisions of the federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965."

SB 320 would add N.C.G.S. 136-131.2(c) and (d). Pursuant to these new provisions, neither the NCDOT nor a local government could deny the ability of an existing billboard to relocate to a more visible area in the same municipality or county, even if the proposed relocation area has significant tree cover.

The bill prohibits local governments from regulating the maintenance, alteration, relocation or reconstruction of an existing billboard, even if the billboard is a nonconformity, without payment of just compensation. The "maintenance, alteration, relocation or reconstruction" provision allows existing billboards to add a sign face if single sided, add a "changeable" face, increase height to eighty (80) feet, convert from wooden poles to metal poles, and convert from bipole to monopole.

Just Compensation

New requirements and criteria would be added to...