STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 84-1007T

)

JANET C. WYATT, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Bearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, William B. Thomas, held a formal hearing in this case on March 20, 1985, in Brooksville, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire

Haydon Burns Building, Mail Station 58 Tallahassee, Florida 32301-8064

For Respondent: Janet C. Wyatt, in pro per

20 Crooked Branch Road Lecanto, Florida 32661

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Respondent, Janet C. Wyatt, owns an outdoor advertising sign which is situated on U.S. 19, .5 mile south of State Road 44 in Citrus County, Florida. One of the faces of this sign faces north and the other faces south.

   
   

2. U.S. 19 is a federal-aid-primary highway.

   
   

3. The Respondent applied for a permit for the subject sign from the Department of Transportation approximately 15 years ago. The Department did not issue the requested permit, and none has been issued to date.

   
   

4. The subject sign is a 16 foot billboard which has been erected at a point which is 80 feet from the center line of U.S. 19. The width of the state's right-of-way is 100 feet from the center line of U.S. 19 at the point where the sign is standing. Thus, the entire sign structure is inside the state right-of-way.

   
   

5. There is no identification of the sign's owner on the structure.

   
   

6. The Respondent admits that she has no state permit for the subject sign, that her name as owner does not appear anywhere on the structure, and that the sign is situated inside the state right-of-way.

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

7. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to and the subject matter of this case. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes. The Department of Transportation has the authority to regulate outdoor advertising signs pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 479, Florida Statutes.

   
   

8. Section 479.11(6), Florida Statutes, prohibits the construction or erection of an advertising sign upon any state right-of-way.

   
   

9. Section 479.07(1), Florida Statutes, prohibits the construction, erection, use, or maintenance of an outdoor advertising structure along any federal-aid-primary highway without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Department of Transportation.

   
   

10. Section 479.07(7), Florida Statutes, requires any person who erects any outdoor advertising sign to affix the name of such person or the owners thereof to the structure in such a manner as to be visible from the front surface of the structure.

    
    

11. The Respondent's sign which is the subject of this proceeding has been erected within the state right-of-way at the point where it stands, this sign has not been issued a permit by the Department, and the structure does not have affixed thereto the owner's name or tie name of the person who erected it. This sign, therefore, is in violation of the above statutes, and must be removed.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Respondent's sign situated on U.S. 19, .5 mile south

of State Road 44 in Citrus County, Florida, facing north and south, be removed.

THIS RECOMMENDED ORDER entered this 26th day of March, 1985, in Tallahassee, Florida.

WILLIAM B. THOMAS

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 26th day of March, 1985.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Philip S. Bennett, Esquire Haydon Burns Building, M.S. 58 Tallahassee, Florida 32301-8064

Janet C. Wyatt

20 Crooked Branch Road Lecanto, Florida 32661

Hon. Paul A. Pappas Secretary

Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 84-001007

Orders for Case No: 84-001007