The governor signed legislation today authored by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) giving the City of Los Angeles new powers to eliminate mobile billboards under its local ban. “The days are numbered for mobile billboards that blight our community,” said Blumenfield. “This law gives Los Angeles more power to aggressively crack down on these dangerous and ugly signs.”
Supported by the League of California Cities and the Los Angeles City Attorney, Assembly Bill (AB) 1298 gives local governments the means to eliminate the new kinds of mobile billboards mounted on cars, mopeds, and sleds by expanding the definition of mobile billboard which state law makes subject to regulation by local ordinance. The definition now includes any device which transports a sign for the purpose of advertising, ending the ways in which a new generation of mobile billboards has sought to skirt Los Angeles’ ban on unhitched trailer advertising. “We’ve had a cat and mouse game going on all year and people are tired of it,” added Blumenfield. “Folks want mobile billboards off the street.
I’ve never had so many energized people contact me demanding change.” AB 1298 also allows local jurisdictions to enact ordinances establishing a minimum distance that a parked vehicle must be moved once the state’s 72 hour limit has been met and towing and impoundment penalties apply. “This gives Los Angeles a boost to go after mobile billboards that take up parking spaces indefinitely by being moved only a few inches every few days,” concluded Blumenfield. Last year, Blumenfield authored AB 2756 which gave local communities the ability to enact ordinances that prohibit the parking of an unhitched trailer with advertising attached to it on any public street, and impose penalties on billboard owners who violate laws governing these billboards.
On January 1, 2011, Blumenfield’s bill took effect, and the City of Los Angeles began to actively enforce a ban on mobile billboards. Since its enactment, hundreds of mobile billboards have been removed from the community. AB 1298 passed the Assembly with a 65-12 vote following a 36-3 vote in the Senate on August 18. It takes effect on January 1, 2012. Further information about this legislation is available at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.