STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 75-1903T

) SEMINOLE VANDERBILT CORPORATION ) D/B/A LA PLAYA MOTOR INN, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before Charles C. Adams, Hearing Officer, Division of Administrative Hearings, at the Lee County Courthouse, Courtroom C, 2115 Second Street, Fort Myers, at 3:30 P.M., on February 19, 1976.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire

Office of Legal Operation Department of Transportation 605 Suwannee Street

Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

For Respondent: Mr. P. M. Francoeur, President

c/o La Playa Motor Inn 9891 Gulf Shore Drive Naples, Florida 33940

ISSUES

Whether the sign which was located at the northwest corner of US #41 and State Road 862, 50 feet west from US #41 on Vanderbilt Road, with the copy "La Playa Motor Inn" and "La Playa Motor Inn", found there on October 8, 1975, continuing through February 19, 1976 was in violation of the following:

1. Chapter 479.07(1), Florida Statutes, which requires a permit for the erection of a sign.

   
   

2. Chapter 478.07(7), Florida Statutes, which requires the name of owner or advertiser be affixed to the face of the sign structure.

   
   

3. Chapter 479.02(2), Florida Statutes, which sets forth certain requirements of spacing.

   FINDINGS OF FACT

   
   

   1. At a time prior to October 8, 1975, Seminole Vanderbilt Corporation, which trades as La Playa Motor Inn and is owned by P. M. Francoeur, sole owner and president, leased a sign from Richard O. Radenbaugh. This sign was located in the vicinity of the northwest corner of US #41 and State Road 862, 50 feet west from US #41 on Vanderbilt Road. Subsequent to the time that the sign was leased to the Seminole Vanderbilt Corporation, Richard O. Radenbaugh entered into a contract to sell the space and the sign to the Department of Transportation. The sale was effected and the sign was removed.

      
      

   2. P. M. Francoeur, as President and leaseholder on the sign was not told that the subject sign would be sold, prior to the negotiations and sale between Mr. Radenbaugh and the Department of Transportation. Consequently, the original sign with the copy "La Playa Motor Inn" was removed without his knowledge; Mr. Francoeur went to a County Commissioners meeting in Collier County, Florida and Mr. Radenbaugh spoke with Mr. Francoeur at that time and promised to give him a vacant sign which had the copy "King Crown Inn". This sign was located immediately west of the "La Playa Motor Inn" former sign. Mr. Francoeur accepted that offer and caused workmen to go to the location and to remove the "King Crown Inn" sign and have it refurbished for purposes of installation at the general location of the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign. When this refurbishing and site location was accomplished, it left two signs in the area that originally had three signs. There was now, an unrelated sign and the new "La Playa Motor Inn" sign which had been constructed from the former "King Crown Inn" sign; as opposed to, the unrelated sign, the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign which had been sold to the Department of Transportation and removed, and the "King Crown Inn" sign which was in the immediate area west of the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign.

      
      

   3. Mr. James A. Hachett, outdoor advertising inspector with the Department of Transportation, was aware that the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign had been sold and removed. When he went by the subject location after the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign had been sold and removed, he discovered that a new sign with the copy "La Playa Motor Inn" had been erected in the general area where the original "La Playa Motor Inn" had been located. He also noted that the "King Crown Inn" sign was no longer located in a position west of the space which had been occupied by the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign. In addition, the new "La Playa Motor Inn" sign was not in the exact location as the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign. On a closer examination, Mr. Hachett discovered that there were three identifying permit tags affixed to the new "La Playa Motor Inn" sign. One tag was the permit tag from the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign, and the other two tags were from the sign west of the location, which sign was the "King Crown Inn" sign. These former permit tags were affixed to each side of the double faced advertising sign. It was after this examination that the "La Playa Motor Inn", in the person of P. M. Francoeur was notified of the prospective violations as ultimately alleged in the October 8, 1975 complaint. Francoeur was notified by an alleged violation statement addressed to the Seminole Vanderbilt Corporation, which owns "La Playa Motor Inn".

      
      

   4. As of February 19, 1976, at the time of the hearing, the new "La Playa Motor Inn" sign which is in fact the refurbished structure which was the "King Crown Inn" sign, located west of the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign, is still standing in the general, but not exact position of the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign. Application for permit by the Seminole Vanderbilt Corporation t/a "La Playa Motor Inn" for the benefit of the copy, "La Playa Motor Inn" has

      not been applied for since the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign was sold to the Department of Transportation and removed. Application has been made for a renewal of the permit which is associated with the "King Crown Inn" sign which was refurbished and became the subsequent "La Playa Motor Inn" sign.

      
      

   5. In describing the location of the new "La Playa Motor Inn" sign, it is somewhere between the location of the original "La Playa Motor Inn" sign and the "King Crown Inn" sign, but not in the exact location of either of those original signs.

      
      

      CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

      
      

   6. It has been shown as a matter of law that the Respondent has constructed, erected, operated, used, maintained, or caused or permitted to constructed, or erected, operated, used, or maintained, an outdoor advertisement, outside an incorporated city or town to wit, Collier County, Florida, without first obtaining a permit therefore, from the Department of Transportation, and paying the annual fee therefore, in violation of Chapter 479.07(2), Florida Statutes. This conclusion is reached from the facts which indicate that the Respondent's existing sign has never been permitted.

      
      

   7. It is concluded as a matter of law that the Respondent has constructed, erected, operated, used, or maintained or caused to be constructed, erected, operated, used, or maintained an outdoor advertising structure, outdoor advertising sign, or outdoor advertisement, without first affixing the name of the Respondent to the structure in such a manner as to be visible from the front surface of the structure, in violation of Chapter 478.07(7), Florida Statutes. The facts show that the Respondent, Seminole Vanderbilt Corporation, has not indicated its ownership as so provided.

      
      

   8. It is concluded as a matter of law that the Respondent has placed a new sign in a location other than the location where his former permitted sign had been constructed, and by so doing has acted in contravention of the desires of the Department of Transportation on the issue of the spacing between its sign and the adjacent sign, in an area where signs are Permitted, in a zoned or unzoned commercial, or a zoned or unzoned industrial area, in violation of Chapter 479.02(2), Florida Statutes. This conclusion of law is based upon the facts as presented in the course of the hearing.

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is recommended that the Petitioner afford the Respondent 30 days within which to remove the sign or take satisfactory steps to obtain a permit for the sign, after which time the Petitioner, in accordance with Chapter 335.13(2), Florida Statutes, shall cause such sign to be removed.

DONE and ENTERED this 14th day of April, 1976, in Tallahassee, Florida.

CHARLES C. ADAMS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire Office of Legal Operation

Mr. P. M. Francoeur, President Department of Transportation c/o La Playa Motor Inn 605 Suwannee Street

9091 Gulf Shore Drive Haydon Burns Building

Naples, Florida 33940 Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Docket for Case No: 75-001903

Orders for Case No: 75-001903