08 LC
25 5176
House
Bill 1318
By:
Representatives Dollar of the
45th,
Barnard of the
166th,
Cheokas of the
134th,
Roberts of the
154th,
and McCall of the
30th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 6 of Title 32 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to the state highway system, so as to provide for
relocation and reconstruction agreements relating to lawfully erected outdoor
advertising signs under certain circumstances; to provide for just compensation
for sign removal; to provide for relation to eminent domain proceedings; to
provide for applicability; to revise certain provisions relating to interest and
losses that may be compensable in the exercise of eminent domain for the
acquisition of interests in outdoor advertising signs; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Part
2 of Article 3 of Chapter 6 of Title 32 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the state highway system, is amended by adding a new Code
section to read as follows:
"32-6-83.1.
(a)
As used in this Code section, the term 'relocation and reconstruction agreement'
means a consensual, contractual agreement between a sign owner and the
department or a municipality or county for either the reconstruction of an
existing sign or the removal of a sign and construction of a new sign to
substitute for the sign removed.
(b)
The department, municipalities, and counties are specifically empowered to enter
into relocation and reconstruction agreements on whatever terms are agreeable to
the sign owner and the department or the municipality or county involved and to
provide for relocation and reconstruction of signs by agreement, ordinance, or
resolution.
(c)
Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, neither the department nor
any municipality or county shall remove, or cause to be removed, any lawfully
erected sign located along any portion of the state highway system or any county
road system or municipal street system without first paying just compensation
for such removal as determined by agreement between the parties or through
eminent domain proceedings. Except as otherwise provided in this Code section,
no municipality, county, or other governmental entity may cause in any way the
alteration of any lawfully erected sign located along any portion of the
interstate, federal-aid primary or other highway system, or any other road
without first paying just compensation for such alteration as determined by
agreement between the parties or through eminent domain proceedings. The
provisions of this Code section shall not apply to any ordinance the validity,
constitutionality, and enforceability of which the owner has by written
agreement waived all right to challenge.
(d)
In the event that the department or a municipality or county undertakes a public
project or public goal requiring alteration or removal of any lawfully erected
sign, the department, municipality, or county shall notify the owner of the
affected sign in writing of the public project or goal and of the intention of
the department, municipality, or county to seek such alteration or removal.
Within 30 days after receipt of the notice, the owner of the sign and the
department, municipality, or county shall attempt to meet for purposes of
negotiating and executing a relocation and reconstruction agreement as provided
for in subsection (b) of this Code section.
(e)
If the parties fail to enter into a relocation and reconstruction agreement
within 120 days after the initial notification by the department, municipality,
or county, either party may request mandatory nonbinding arbitration to resolve
the disagreements between the parties. Each party shall select an arbitrator,
and the individuals so selected shall choose a third arbitrator. The three
arbitrators shall constitute the panel that shall arbitrate the dispute between
the parties and, at the conclusion of the proceedings, shall present to the
parties a proposed relocation and reconstruction agreement that the panel
believes equitably balances the rights, interests, obligations, and reasonable
expectations of the parties. If the department, municipality, or county and the
sign owner accept the proposed relocation and reconstruction agreement, the
department, municipality, or county and the sign owner shall each pay its
respective costs of arbitration and shall pay one-half of the costs of the
arbitration panel, unless the parties otherwise agree.
(f)
If the parties do not enter into a relocation and reconstruction agreement, the
department, municipality, or county may proceed with the public project or
purpose and the alteration or removal of the sign only after first paying just
compensation for such alteration or removal as determined by agreement between
the parties or through eminent domain proceedings.
(g)
The requirement by a municipality or county that a lawfully erected sign be
removed or altered as a condition precedent to the issuance or continued
effectiveness of a development permit constitutes a compelled removal that is
prohibited without prior payment of just compensation under subsection (c) of
this Code section. This subsection shall not apply when the owner of the land
on which the sign is located is seeking to have the property rezoned for
exclusively single-family residential use.
(h)
The requirement by the department or a municipality or county that a lawfully
erected sign be altered or removed from the premises upon which it is located
incident to the voluntary acquisition of such property by the department,
municipality, or county constitutes a compelled removal that is prohibited
without payment of just compensation under subsection (c) of this Code
section.
(i)
Nothing in this Code section shall prevent the department or a municipality or
county from acquiring a lawfully erected sign through eminent domain or from
prospectively regulating the placement, size, height, or other aspects of new
signs within such entity´s jurisdiction, including the prohibition of new
signs, unless otherwise authorized pursuant to this Code section. Nothing in
this Code section shall impair any ordinance or provision of any ordinance not
inconsistent with this Code section, including a provision that creates a ban or
partial ban on new signs, nor shall this Code section create any new rights for
any party other than the owner of a sign, the owner of the land upon which it is
located, or the department or a municipality or county as expressed in this Code
section.
(j)
This Code section shall apply 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.
(k)
This Code section shall not apply to any actions taken by the department that
relate to the operation, maintenance, or expansion of transportation facilities,
nor shall it affect the provisions of Article 1 of Chapter 3 of this title
regarding eminent domain relating to the department.
(l)
Nothing in this Code section shall impair or affect any written agreement
existing prior to July 1, 2008, including, but not limited to, any settlement
agreements reliant upon the legality or enforceability of local ordinances. The
provisions of this Code section shall not apply to any signs that are required
to be removed by a date certain in areas designated by local ordinance as view
corridors if the local ordinance creating the view corridors was enacted in part
to effectuate a consensual agreement between the local government and two or
more sign owners prior to July 1, 2008, nor shall this Code section apply to any
municipality with an ordinance that prohibits billboards and has two or fewer
billboards located within its current boundaries or its future annexed
properties.
(m)
Subsection (g) of this Code section shall not apply when the development permit
authorizes construction of a replacement sign that cannot be erected without the
removal of the lawfully erected sign being replaced."
SECTION
2.
Said
part is further amended by revising Code Section 32-6-84, relating to interests
and losses that may be compensable in the exercise of eminent domain for the
acquisition of interests in outdoor advertising signs, as follows:
"32-6-84.
The
just
compensation provided for in Code Sections 32-6-82
and,
32-6-83, and
32-6-83.1 is authorized to be paid only
for the following:
(1)
The taking from the owner of such sign, display, or device of all right, title,
leasehold, and interest in such sign, display, or device;
(2)
The taking from the owner of the real property on which the sign, display, or
device is located of the right to erect and maintain such signs, displays, and
devices thereon;
(3)
The actual financial loss suffered by the lessee under a written lease expressly
and solely permitting the erection and maintenance of a sign, display, or device
(which was lawful on the date such lease was executed) because of the refusal by
the department to issue a permit for the erection of such sign, display, or
device, provided that the amount of compensation paid may not exceed the pro
rata part of the entire rental paid and to be paid under such lease for the
unelapsed portion thereof remaining on July 1, 1973; or
(4)
The actual financial loss suffered by the lessor under a written lease expressly
and solely permitting the erection and maintenance of a sign, display, or device
(which was lawful on the date such lease was executed) because of the refusal by
the department to issue a permit for the erection of such sign, display, or
device, provided that the amount of compensation paid may not exceed the pro
rata part of the entire rental paid and to be paid under such lease for the
unelapsed portion thereof remaining on July 1, 1973."
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.