Florida · statute · Fla. Stat. ch. 479 · 33 active provisions
As used in this chapter, the term:(1) “Allowable uses” means the intended uses identified in a local government’s land development regulations which are authorized within a zoning category as a use by right, without the requirement to obtain a variance or waiver. The term includes conditional uses and those allowed by…
The control of signs in areas adjacent to the highways of this state is declared to be necessary to protect the public investment in the state highways; to attract visitors to this state by conserving the natural beauty of the state; to preserve and promote the recreational value of public travel; to assure that inform…
The department shall:(1) Administer and enforce this chapter, the 1972 agreement between the state and the United States Department of Transportation, Title 23 of the United States Code, and federal regulations, including, but not limited to, those pertaining to the maintenance, continuance, and removal of nonconformin…
Signs shall be permitted by the department only in commercial or industrial zones, as determined by the local government, in compliance with chapter 163, unless otherwise provided in this chapter. Commercial and industrial zones are those areas appropriate for commerce, industry, or trade, regardless of how those areas…
The territory under the jurisdiction of the department for the purpose of this chapter includes all the state. Employees, agents, or independent contractors working for the department, in the performance of their functions and duties under the provisions of this chapter, may enter into and upon any land upon which a si…
(1) A person may not engage in the business of outdoor advertising in this state without first obtaining a license from the department. Such license shall be renewed annually. The fee for such license, and for each annual renewal, is $300. License renewal fees are payable as provided for in s. 479.07.(2) A person is no…
The department may deny, suspend, or revoke a license requested or granted under this chapter in any case in which it determines that the application for the license contains false or misleading information of material consequence, that the licensee has failed to pay fees or costs owed to the department for outdoor adv…
(1) Except as provided in ss. 479.105(1) and 479.16, a person may not erect, operate, use, or maintain, or cause to be erected, operated, used, or maintained, any sign on the State Highway System outside an urban area or on any portion of the interstate or federal-aid primary highway system without first obtaining a pe…
The department may deny or revoke a permit requested or granted under this chapter in any case in which it determines that the application for the permit contains false or misleading information of material consequence. The department may revoke a permit granted under this chapter in any case in which the permittee has…
A sign shall be removed by the permittee within 30 days after the date of revocation or cancellation of the permit for the sign. If the permittee fails to remove the sign within the 30-day period, the department shall remove the sign at the permittee’s expense with or without further notice and without incurring any li…
(1) A sign that is located adjacent to the right-of-way of any highway on the State Highway System outside an incorporated area or adjacent to the right-of-way on any portion of the interstate or federal-aid primary highway system, which sign was erected, operated, or maintained without the permit required by s. 479.07…
(1) The removal, cutting, or trimming of trees or vegetation on public right-of-way to make visible or to ensure future visibility of the facing of a proposed sign or previously permitted sign shall be performed only with the written permission of the department in accordance with the provisions of this section.(2) Any…
(1) Any sign located on the right-of-way of a highway on the State Highway System or on any portion of the interstate or federal-aid primary highway system which is in violation of s. 479.11(8) may be removed by the department as provided in this section. However, a permittee of a sign which is located on the right-of-…
No sign shall be erected, used, operated, or maintained:(1) Within 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any portion of the interstate highway system or the federal-aid primary highway system, except as provided in ss. 479.111 and 479.16.(2) Beyond 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any p…
Only the following signs shall be allowed within controlled portions of the interstate highway system and the federal-aid primary highway system as set forth in s. 479.11(1) and (2):(1) Directional or other official signs and notices that conform to 23 C.F.R. ss. 750.151-750.155.(2) Signs in commercial-zoned and indust…
Any person who willfully or maliciously displaces, removes, destroys or injures a mileboard, milestone, danger sign, signal, guide sign, guidepost, highway sign, or historical marker or any inscription thereon, lawfully within or adjacent to a highway, or who in any manner paints, prints, places, puts or affixes any ad…
All moneys received by the department under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid by it into the State Treasury and placed in the State Transportation Trust Fund for use in the administration of this chapter.
(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…
The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to supersede the rights and powers of counties and municipalities to enact outdoor advertising or sign ordinances.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a municipality or county may permit and regulate wall murals within areas designated by such government. If a municipality or county permits wall murals, a wall mural that displays a commercial message and is within 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way wi…
The following signs are exempt from the requirement that a permit for a sign be obtained under this chapter but are required to comply with s. 479.11(4)-(8), and subsections (15)-(20) may not be implemented or continued if the Federal Government notifies the department that implementation or continuation will adversely…
Any person who willfully or maliciously removes, damages, destroys, tampers with, or alters in any way a sign for which a permit has been issued under this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(1) Just compensation shall be paid by the department upon the department’s acquisition of a lawful conforming or nonconforming sign along any portion of the interstate or federal-aid primary highway system. This section does not apply to a sign that is illegal at the time of its removal. A sign loses its nonconforming…
(1) The owner of a lawfully erected sign that is governed by and conforms to state and federal requirements for land use, size, height, and spacing may increase the height above ground level of such sign at its permitted location if a noise-attenuation barrier is permitted by or erected by any governmental entity in su…
(1) The department shall establish a logo sign program for the rights-of-way of the limited access highway system to provide information to motorists about available gas, food, lodging, camping, attractions, and other services, as approved by the Federal Highway Administration, at interchanges through the use of busine…