BILL NUMBER: AB 1556 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 16, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 28, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 1999 INTRODUCED BY AssemblyMember MaddoxMembers Correa and Granlund FEBRUARY 26, 1999An act to add Section 5442.9 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to outdoor advertising.An act to add Section 56375.6 to the Government Code, relating to redevelopment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1556, as amended,MaddoxCorrea .Highways: outdoor advertisingRedevelopment: El Toro Marine Corps Air Station . Existing law prescribes the powers of the local agency formation commission with respect to, among other things, the approval of changes of organization of local government agencies such as a city annexation. This bill would prohibit the commission in Orange County from approving any proposal including the annexation to a city of any portion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station until transfer of fee title of that territory to the local redevelopment authority has occurred or until January 1, 2007, whichever occurs first.The Outdoor Advertising Act regulates the placement of advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances of certain highways. The act prohibits, with specified exemptions, the placement of an advertising display on property adjacent to a section of landscaped freeway. Existing law exempts from that prohibition an advertising display used exclusively to identify development projects, business centers, or associations located within, or sponsored by, the City of Costa Mesa to support economic development activities, if the display meets specified conditions. This bill would provide a similar exemption for certain advertising displays in the City of Garden Grove and would place an additional condition on those exempted signs and structures by prohibiting them from identifying any individual business or service. The bill would set forth facts and declare that the provisions specified above constitute necessary special legislation.Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:yesno . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:SECTION 1. Section 5442.9 is added to theSECTION 1. Section 56375.6 is added to the Government Code, to read: 56375.6. The commission in the County of Orange shall not approve or conditionally approve any proposal that includes annexation to a city of any portion of Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro until transfer of fee title of that territory to the local redevelopment authority recognized pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 65050 has occurred or until January 1, 2007, whichever occurs first. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that, because of the unique circumstances involving the transfer of Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro to local ownership and the potential to utilize base facilities for social programs prior to transfer of the base property to the Local Redevelopment Authority, a statute of general applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution, and therefore, a special statute is necessary.Business and Professions Code, to read: 5442.9. Section 5440 does not apply to any advertising structure or sign if the advertising display is used exclusively to identify development projects, business centers, or associations located within the jurisdiction of, or sponsored by, the City of Garden Grove to support economic development activities, if all of the following conditions are met: (a) No other display is used by that city pursuant to this section. (b) The governing body of that city has authorized placement of the display by an ordinance or resolution adopted following a duly noticed public hearing regarding the display. (c) Placement of the display will not necessitate the immediate trimming, pruning, topping, or removal of existing trees in order to make the display visible or to improve its visibility, unless done as part of the normal landscape maintenance activities that would have been undertaken without regard to the placement of the display. (d) The display does not cause a reduction in federal aid highway funds, as provided in Section 131 of Title 23 of the United States Code. (e) The advertising structure or sign does not identify any individual business or service. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique circumstances that exist in the City of Garden Grove. The facts constituting the special circumstances are as follows: (a) Existing law prohibits certain retail businesses in the City of Garden Grove from erecting advertising signs or displays along the freeway, because they are located next to a portion of the freeway that has been designated a landscaped freeway, as defined in Section 5216 of the Business and Professions Code. Other competing retail centers in Orange County, located along the same freeway, but not next to a portion of the freeway that has been designated a landscaped freeway, are not prohibited from erecting those signs or displays. This situation places those retail businesses in Garden Grove that are located next to a landscaped freeway at a serious competitive disadvantage. (b) The City of Garden Grove has an obligation to secure for its businesses the same advantages enjoyed by businesses in other communities to ensure that they can compete on a level playing field with businesses in those other communities. Success of these businesses is in the public interest since their operations generate tax revenues to support vital public services and projects, and provide jobs to persons within the community. (c) This enactment will greatly assist the City of Garden Grove.