TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Lynn Gelin, Interim City Attorney
DATE: December 11, 2018
Title
DISCUSSION REGARDING AGREEMENT WITH OUTFRONT MEDIA, INC.
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Motion to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement between Outfront Media, Inc. and the City of Delray Beach, to relocate billboards pursuant to the direction provided by the City Commission and to take all actions necessary to effectuate the agreement.
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Background:
Outfront Media, Inc., approached the City to discuss the removal of two (2) of its billboards, both located on North Congress Avenue north of Atlantic Avenue, and, in exchange, to construct one (1) billboard located at 975 S. Congress Avenue at the eastern edge of the property with visibility on I-95.
The City’s Code of Ordinances and Land Development Regulations do not expressly permit the installation of new billboards; however Florida Statute §70.20 authorizes the proposed agreement. Section 70.20 expresses its intent in the preamble of the legislation that “[i]t is a policy of this state to encourage municipalities, counties, and other governmental entities and sign owners to enter into relocation and reconstruction agreements that allow governmental entities to undertake public projects and accomplish public goals without the expenditure of public funds while allowing the continued maintenance of private investment in signage as a medium of commercial and noncommercial communication.” Section 70.20 supersedes the City’s ordinances and is the basis for Outfront’s request.
Digital billboards are not new in Palm Beach County, as they have been in use on I-95 for almost ten years now. Today’s digital billboard technology is similar to flat screen televisions-- while the first generations were big and bulky and consumed a large amount of electricity, today’s televisions are much slimmer and use one-quarter of the electricity. Despite technological advances, digital billboards are heavily regulated by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). FDOT sets regulations for the minimum distance between billboards, the frequency of when the images appear, any movement or flashing, and how bright the billboard is.
Florida Statute 70.20 expresses the need to “undertake public projects and accomplish public goals…,” the proposed agreement does this. In addition to the revenue generated by the agreement and the advertising space, this agreement accomplishes public projects and public benefits by removing two billboards on North Congress Avenue.
The City approved a similar relocation and reconstruction agreement with Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc., a competing billboard company, on September 20, 2005. In that agreement, Clear Channel demolished eight (8) billboard structures and built four (4) new billboard structures. In exchange, the City was paid $1,000.00 for each new billboard structure.
Outfront proposes removing two (2) billboards on N. Congress Avenue, surface streets, and reconstructing one (1) billboard with digital faces on S. Congress Avenue, adjacent to I-95. In addition, Outfront has offered the City, $15,000.00 annually as a permit fee per face, generating revenue for the City in the amount of $30,000.00 per year. Last, Outfront has offered the City available space on the new billboard to promote the City, its events, and other City-specific messaging. In exchange, Outfront seeks a fifty (50) year agreement with an automatic fifty (50) year renewal.