Findings Of Fact Petitioner acquired a lease on property along S.R. 580 in Hillsborough County for the purpose of erecting a outdoor advertising sign thereon. Petitioner obtained approval from Respondent to place this sign at a location slightly more than 500 feet from an existing sign on the same side of the road facing in the same direction. Petitioner hired a small contractor to erect the sign without sending a representative to the site to ensure the sign was properly located. The contractor erected the sign on the wrong side of a driveway into the property leased so the sign, instead of being more than 500 feet from an existing sign, is some 472-474 feet from this sign on the same side of the highway and facing in the same direction. The cost of moving the sign to the correct location is estimated at $10,000. This petition in effect seeks a waiver of the 500-foot spacing requirement.
Findings Of Fact The Respondent, J. B. Davis, Jr., owns an outdoor advertising sign which is situated on the south side of I-10, 1.23 miles east of U.S. 211, in Madison County, Florida. This sign faces westbound traffic. I-10 is a part of the interstate highway system, and it is open to traffic. The subject sign is visible from the main traveled way of I-10. There is no zoning in Madison County, Florida. The subject sign has been erected and is situated beyond 800 feet from any existing business, and it is within 660 feet from the right-of-way of I-10. The subject sign does not have a permit issued by the Department of Transporation.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Respondent's sign situated on the south side of I-10, 1.23 miles east of U.S. 211, facing westbound traffic, in Madison County, Florida, be removed. THIS RECOMMENDED ORDER entered this 3rd day of April, 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 3rd day of April, 1985. COPIES FURNISHED: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire Haydon Burns Bldg., M.S. 58 Tallahassee, Florida 32301-8064 Mr. J. B. Davis President J. B. Davis, Inc. Base and Duval Streets Madison, Florida 32340 Hon. Paul A. Pappas Secretary Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Findings Of Fact Based on the oral and documentary evidence presented at the final hearing and the entire record of this proceeding, the following findings of fact are made: Blue Cypress Golf & R.V. Resort is located at 13801 Southeast U.S. Highway 441 in Okeechobee County, Florida, about one and one-half miles west of the Martin County line. U.S. Highway 441 is also State Road 15, and Blue Cypress is located on the north side of this two-lane state road. When completed, the resort will have 490 lots; currently, 290 lots have been built, and 200 lots have been sold and are occupied on a seasonal basis. A nine-hole golf course has been in operation at Blue Cypress since at least 1992. Blue Cypress is owned by William H. Curren and his wife. In 1988, Blue Cypress first submitted to the Department an application and plans for a connection permit allowing Blue Cypress to construct a connection with State Road 15 to provide ingress to, and egress from, the property. The plans submitted with the application provided for the construction of a southbound right turn lane, a northbound left turn lane, and an acceleration lane on State Road 15 at the point of connection. In July 1992, while the 1988 application was still under review,2/ the Department discovered that Blue Cypress had constructed a 36 to 38 foot asphalt driveway connecting the property to State Road 15. As a result, in August 1992, the Department issued a notice to Blue Cypress that it was in violation of section 335.18, Florida Statutes, because the connection to State Road 15 was unpermitted. Blue Cypress requested an administrative hearing, and the matter was resolved in December 1992 when the Department issued a temporary connection permit allowing Blue Cypress to maintain the connection for ninety days.3/ The temporary permit was to expire on March 9, 1993, and Blue Cypress was to submit plans and a new application for a permanent connection permit before that date. Blue Cypress did not submit the required plans prior to the expiration of the temporary permit, and, on March 25, 1993, the Department issued a notice requiring that Blue Cypress comply with the terms of the temporary permit within thirty days. The Department did not receive a timely response, and it entered an Order to Show Cause on June 29, 1993, requiring Blue Cypress to show cause why the connection should not be closed and to submit an application and plans for a connection permit. Blue Cypress timely requested an administrative hearing and also, on August 26, 1993, submitted a second application and plans for a connection permit. After reviewing the plans and the application, the Department issued the permit Qn February 24, 1994. The proceeding initiated by the June 1993 show cause order was terminated by Final Order entered July 21, 1994, in which Blue Cypress's request for an administrative hearing was dismissed as moot. The connection permit issued on February 24, 1994, number C9101093, provided that construction begin by April 24, 1994, ninety days from the date of issuance, and that construction be complete by February 24, 1995, one year from the date of issuance. The plans submitted by Blue Cypress were modified during the application review process, and the changes were indicated in red ink and incorporated into the permit. Specifically, the approved plans required that a southbound left turn lane be constructed on State Road 15 in accordance with the Department's Standard Index 536, which establishes the geometrics for the road width which must accompany a left turn lane. In concluding that a left turn lane was necessary at the Blue Cypress connection, the Department took into account the projected traffic volumes for 1998 contained in a traffic study commissioned by Blue Cypress, the posted speed limit on State Road 15 of 55 miles per hour, and the projected number of vehicles making a left turn into Blue Cypress. The Department's analysis of the need for a left turn lane was based on the application of generally-accepted standard curves to this information. Standard curves are used to determine whether left turn lanes are required at a connection to ensure safety and the efficient operation of the highway system. The left turn lane required as a condition of the 1994 permit is still needed at the Blue Cypress connection because the Department estimates that traffic volume on State Road 15 in 1995 will be greater than that projected for 1998 in Blue Cypress's traffic study. In a letter dated July 18, 1994, the Department notified Blue Cypress that it had failed to comply with the terms of the connection permit in that it had failed to commence construction of the left turn lane within the ninety-day period specified in the permit. Blue Cypress was directed to submit a revised permit application within thirty days of the date of the letter. In a letter to the Department dated August 3, 1994, Mr. Curren confirmed Blue Cypress's intention to proceed with construction and requested a ninety-day extension in which to begin construction. The Department granted the extension in a letter dated September 7, 1994, and reminded Blue Cypress that the permit would expire on February 24, 1995, one year after issuance. The next action taken by the Department was to send the March 6, 1995, Notice of Permit Nonconformance which is the subject of this proceeding. Blue Cypress did not request an extension of the permit's expiration date, nor has it begun construction of the left turn lane required by the connection permit. Because the permit expired by its own terms on February 24, 1995, the connection providing access to Blue Cypress is an unpermitted connection to the state highway system. Blue Cypress has not submitted a new application for a connection permit. The Department has allowed Blue Cypress to use the existing, unpermitted, connection since 1992, while working with Blue Cypress to develop plans which would provide reasonable access onto State Road 15 while ensuring the traffic safety on the highway. A left turn lane at the Blue Cypress connection is necessary to ensure safe and efficient movement of traffic on State Road 15.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Department of Transportation enter a Final Order directing the closure of the connection of Blue Cypress Golf & R.V. Resort to State Road 15 (U.S. Highway 441) until a left turn lane is constructed at the location, and directing Blue Cypress to submit a new Connection Application and Permit to the Department, together with the applicable fee, prior to beginning construction of the left turn lane. DONE AND ENTERED this 1st day of November 1995, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. PATRICIA HART MALONO Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 1st day of November 1995.
Findings Of Fact On September 23, 1979, the Department issued to the Respondent, Chipley Motel, permit number 9028-6 authorizing an outdoor advertising sign on the south side of I-10, .8 mile west of SR 77 in Washington County, Florida. This permit was issued pursuant to an application that had been filed by a representative of the Respondent which stated that the site where the sign would be erected was zoned commercial or industrial. The Respondent's representative filed this application containing the statement that the proposed site was zoned commercial or industrial without first checking with county officials to determine the zoning status of the site. Upon receipt of the Respondent's application, Department personnel at the Chipley District Office made inquiry of county officials and were informed that the site applied for by the Respondent was zoned commercial. Thereafter, the Department's district office personnel advised the Respondent that they had ascertained the subject site to be commercially zoned, and permit number 9028-6 was issued. Both the Respondent's representative and the Department's district office personnel believed the proposed sign site was zoned commercial. However, the site applied for by the Respondent, and where permit number 9028-6 authorized a sign to be erected, was not zoned commercial or industrial either when the application was submitted or when the permit was issued. Pursuant to the issuance of permit number 9028-6, the Respondent erected an outdoor advertising sign at the permitted location. This sign was taken down sometime between September of 1979 and July of 1985. Permit number 9028-6 which had been issued for this sign on I-10, .8 mile west of SR 77 was affixed to another sign located 250-300 feet from the permitted site. Sometime after July 31, 1985, a different sign was erected at the location on I-10, .8 mile west of SR 77, and permit number 9028-6 was affixed to this sign. Therefore, permit number 9028-6 had been used on two signs at two different locations before it was reapplied to the sign that now stands on the permitted site. The sign that is up now is not the sign for which permit number 9028-6 was issued.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is: RECOMMENDED that permit number 9028-6 held by Chipley Motel, for a sign on the south side of I-10, .8 mile west of SR 77 in Washington County, Florida, be revoked. THIS RECOMMENDED ORDER ENTERED this 13th day of March, 1986 in Tallahassee, Leon County, 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 13th day of April, 1986. COPIES FURNISHED: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire Haydon Burns Bldg., M.S. 58 Tallahassee, Florida 32301-8064 James J. Richardson, Esquire P. O. Box 12669 Tallahassee, Florida 32317-2669 Hon. Thomas E. Drawdy Secretary Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Bldg. Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Findings Of Fact Based on the record transmitted to the Division of Administrative Hearings by the Petitioner, the following are found as the relevant facts: The Respondent, Hinson Oil Company, owns four outdoor advertising signs in Gadsden County, Florida, located on the south side of I-10, in the proximity of County Road 270-A. On October 3, 1984, the Department of Transportation notified the Respondent in writing that these signs violated Section 479.11, Florida Statutes, in that they were alleged to be located in an area which is not a zoned or unzoned commercial or industrial area. The return receipt was signed by E. W. Hinson, Jr., on October 9, 1984. Paragraph 2 of the notices of violation served on October 3 and received on October 9, 1984, sets forth the following procedural requirements: You must comply with the applicable provisions of said Statute(s) and Cede(s) within thirty (30) days from the date of this notice, . . . or in the alternative, an administrative hearing under Section 120.57, Florida Statutes, must be requested by you within thirty (30) days of the date of this notice . . . E. W. Hinson, Jr., on behalf of the Respondent, requested an administrative hearing by letter dated November 16, 1984. This request was received by the Department of Transportation clerk on November 19, 1984.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Department of Transportation enter a Final Order dismissing with prejudice the Respondent's request for an administrative hearing in each of these cases. THIS RECOMMENDED ORDER entered this 24th day of January, 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 24th day of January, 1985. COPIES FURNISHED: Philip S. Bennett, Esquire and Maxine Fay Ferguson, Esquire Haydon Burns Building, M.S. 58 Tallahassee, Florida 32301-8064 E. W. Hinson, Jr. Hinson Oil Company P.O. Box 1168 Quincy, Florida 32351 John Curry, Esquire P.O. Drawer 391 Quincy, Florida 32351
