Florida Statutes 479.15 – Harmony of regulations
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 479.15
- Department: means the Department of Transportation. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Erect: means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Federal-aid primary highway system: means the federal-aid primary highway system in existence on June 1, 1991, and any highway that was not a part of such system as of that date but that is, or became after June 1, 1991, a part of the National Highway System, including portions that have been accepted as part of the National Highway System but are unbuilt or unopened. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Highway: means any road, street, or other way open or intended to be opened to the public for travel by motor vehicles. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Nonconforming sign: means a sign which was lawfully erected but which does not comply with the land use, setback, size, spacing, and lighting provisions of state or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance passed at a later date or a sign which was lawfully erected but which later fails to comply with state or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance due to changed conditions. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Premises: means all the land areas under ownership or lease arrangement to the sign owner which are contiguous to the business conducted on the land except for instances where such land is a narrow strip contiguous to the advertised activity or is connected by such narrow strip, the only viable use of such land is to erect or maintain an advertising sign. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Remove: means to disassemble all sign materials above ground level and transport such materials from the site. See Florida Statutes 479.01
- Sign: means any combination of structure and message in the form of an outdoor sign, display, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, advertising structure, advertisement, logo, symbol, or other form, whether placed individually or on a V-type, back-to-back, side-to-side, stacked, or double-faced display or automatic changeable facing, designed, intended, or used to advertise or inform, any part of the advertising message or informative contents of which is visible from any place on the main-traveled way. See Florida Statutes 479.01
(1) A zoning board or commission or other public officer or agency may not issue a permit to erect a sign that is prohibited under this chapter or the rules of the department, and the department may not issue a permit for a sign that is prohibited by any other public board, officer, or agency in the lawful exercise of its powers.
(2) A municipality, county, local zoning authority, or other local governmental entity may not remove, or cause to be removed, a lawfully erected sign along any portion of the interstate or federal-aid primary highway system without first paying just compensation for such removal. A local governmental entity may not cause in any way the alteration of a lawfully erected sign located along any portion of the interstate or federal-aid primary highway system without payment of just compensation if such alteration constitutes a taking under state law. The municipality, county, local zoning authority, or other local governmental entity that adopts requirements for such alteration shall pay just compensation to the sign owner if such alteration constitutes a taking under state law. This subsection applies only to a lawfully erected sign the subject matter of which relates to premises other than the premises on which it is located or to merchandise, services, activities, or entertainment not sold, produced, manufactured, or furnished on the premises on which the sign is located. This subsection may not be interpreted as explicit or implicit legislative recognition that alterations do or do not constitute a taking under state law.
(3) It is the express intent of the Legislature to limit the state right-of-way acquisition costs on state and federal roads in eminent domain proceedings, ss. 479.07 and 479.155 notwithstanding. Subject to approval by the Federal Highway Administration, if public acquisition of land upon which is situated a lawfully permitted sign occurs as provided in this chapter, the sign may, at the election of its owner and the department, be relocated or reconstructed adjacent to the new right-of-way and in close proximity to the current site if the sign is not relocated in an area inconsistent with s. 479.024. Such relocation is subject to the requirements in the 1972 agreement between the state and the United States Department of Transportation. The sign owner shall pay all costs associated with relocating or reconstructing a sign under this subsection, and the state or any local government may not reimburse the sign owner for such costs, unless part of such relocation costs is required by federal law. If adjacent property is not available for the relocation, the department is responsible for paying the owner of the sign just compensation for its removal.
(4) For a nonconforming sign, the face of the sign may not be increased in size or height or structurally modified at the point of relocation in a manner inconsistent with the current building codes of the jurisdiction in which the sign is located.
(5) If relocation can be accomplished but is inconsistent with the ordinances of the municipality or county within whose jurisdiction the sign is located, the ordinances of the local government shall prevail if the local government assumes the responsibility to provide the owner of the sign just compensation for its removal. Compensation paid by the local government may not be greater than the compensation required under state or federal law. This section does not impair any agreement or future agreements between a municipality or county and the owner of a sign or signs within the jurisdiction of the municipality or county.
(6) Subsections (3), (4), and (5) do not apply within the jurisdiction of a municipality that is engaged in litigation concerning its sign ordinance on April 23, 1999, and the subsections do not apply to a municipality whose boundaries are identical to the county within which the municipality is located.
(7) This section does not cause a neighboring sign that is already permitted and that is within the spacing requirements established in s. 479.07(9)(a) to become nonconforming.