HomeMy WebLinkAboutNew Business #1 4-20-87 BillboaCITY OF ORANGE
· NEW BUSINESS
NO. 1
4-20-B7,
.
March 30, 1987
Mayor Donald Saltarelli
City of Tustin
Centenial at Main
Tustin, Californ~92680
Dear Mayo S~~al~a~relli:
As you may have read, the City of Orange is involved in
litigation with the National Advertising Company concerning
billboards. For many years the City of Orange, along with
many other California cities, has had an ordinance that
totally banned off-site billboards and, initially, the City
sought to enforce this ordinance.. Federal Judge Terry Hatter
declared our total ban of these signs as unconstitutional.
The City also argued that it should be allowed to apply the
other provisions.of its sign ordinance to the eleven bill-
boards proposed by the Company. Our ordinance would prohibit
the proposed eleven billboards inasmuch as they are too
large, too high, and in the wrong location to comply with
the City's sign ordinance. Thus far, Judge Hatter has
refused to permit the City to enforce any of our sign
ordinance limitations. The City has undertaken to appeal
these decisions, including the recent contempt order imposed
against the City.
National Advertising has alleged that the City violated
the Federal Civil Rights Act in denying these permits. If
the billboard company prevails, the billboard company.will
seek "reasonable" attorney's fees against the City as the
.prevailing party in the litigation. In addition, National
Advertising is seeking $3 million in damages as a result of
our refusal to issue'sign permits at the time of application.
Obviously, the City anticipates a long and very expensive
appeal period.
Mayor Donald Saltarelli
March 30, 1987
Page 2
Because this case goes to the very heart 'of local
control of billboards and sign ordinance provisions, any
final decision resulting from this litigation will have a
substantial impact on a large number of California cities.
Due to this impact we would request that your City consider
providing the City of Orange with any and all political,
legal, and moral support possible. In addition, litigation
of ~his magnitude will require our'City to expend large sums
of monies in carrying this appeals process forward. Already,
the City of Orange has spent substantial sums on t~is
litigation. I will attempt, also, to solicit support from
state and national organizations who might be interested in
this litigation. Finally, the Orange City Council is looking
at our Sister Cities in California to assist us in this long
and lengthy legal process.
I ask that you and your colleagues on your City Council
consider carefully this request and hopefully agree to
assist the City of Orange with some financial support.
Either our City Attorney, Furman Roberts, or myself are
available to discuss this matter further should you so
desire. We look forward to hearing from the City of Tustin
in the near future.
Very truly yours,
Mayor
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