STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 76-675T

)

BIG BEND TRUCK PLAZA, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

After due notice, a public hearing was held before Delphene C. Strickland, Hearing Officer, Division of Administrative Hearings, Department of Administration, in Room 113, Collins Building, Tallahassee, Florida on June 16, 1976 at 9:00 a.m.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire

Office of Legal Operations Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

For Respondent: Fred Baggett, Esquire

Laface and Baggett, P.A. Post Office Box 1752 Tallahassee, Florida 32304

ISSUE

Whether the Respondent is in violation of Chapter 479, F.S., Section 335.13, F.S., Section 339.301 F.S., and the Federal Rules and Regulations appertaining to outdoor advertising on the Federal Aid Highways.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Respondent admitted that it constructed the subject sign located 1,100 feet west of Junction State Road 59 and 110 on the south side of 110. The copy reads "Mid-Continent." The sign height is approximately twelve (12) feet but projects some seventy (70) feet in the air.

   
   

2. There is no permit attached to the sign as required by Section 479.07,

   F.S. Application for a permit was made but after discussion with representatives of the Respondent, it was found that the sign could not be permitted and the application for permit was denied.

3. This sign cannot be called an on-premise sign inasmuch as it is more than a hundred feet from the business operation of the Respondent which is a truck stop although the sign reads merely "Mid-Continent."

   
   

4. Respondent admitted that the business known as "The Big Bend Truck Plaza" is part of an operation of "Mid-Continent Inn Truck Stops" and the "Mid- Continent" sign was erected in anticipation of the further development of the area in which the "Big Bend Truck Plaza" is located.

   
   

5. The sign, as erected at the date of the hearing, was more than 800 feet from the premise although it is evidently the intention of the parties that a building be erected so that the sign would be within a hundred feet of the sign that is now standing.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

6. Subject sign violates the setback requirements of Chapter 479. Subject sign violates the requirements of Chapter 479 which require that a permit be secured before a sign be erected. Subject sign is not an on-premise sign. Subject sign should be removed inasmuch as the Respondent erected the sign with the full knowledge from the Petitioner that the sign could not be erected at the place in which it was erected and subject sign presently violates Section 479.11 which prohibits the erection of a sign within 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of all portions of the interstate system of the Federal Aid Primary System and prohibits the erection of a sign which is beyond 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of all portions of the interstate system of the Federal Aid Primary System outside of urban area that is erected with the purpose of its message being read from the main travel ways of such system. Respondent's sign is not in an urban area and can be seen from 110.

RECOMMENDATION

Remove subject sign within ten (10) days after the issuance of the Final Order unless Respondent removes said sign previous thereto.

DONE and ORDERED this 30th day of July, 1976 in Tallahassee, Florida.

DELPHENE C. STRICKLAND

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Mr. O. E. Black, Administrator Outdoor Advertising Section Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Philip S. Bennett, Esquire Office of Legal Operations Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Thomas W. Lager, Esquire Laface and Baggett, P.A. Post Office Box 1752 Tallahassee, Florida 32302

Fred Baggett, Esquire Laface and Baggett, P.A. Post Office Box 1752 Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Mr. J. E. Jordan District Sign Coordinator

Department of Transportation Post Office Box 607

U.S. Highway 90 East Chipley, Florida 32428

Docket for Case No: 76-000675

Orders for Case No: 76-000675