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Trees, Billboards, and the Right to be Seen From the Road

by Charles F. Floyd
Professor of Real Estate, University of Georgia

Vista, (n), a opening in the landscape through which one can see a billboard.

-- UNKNOWN from Wagsters Unexpurgated Dictionary.

Introduction

The outdoor advertising industry depends for its very existence on its billboards being seen from the public roadway. If trees grow up in front of a sign and block this view, the billboard no longer has value to the outdoor advertising company's business. Pressure from the industry to remove these obstructions to their use of the road has led to the controversial practice in a number of states of permitting the cutting of trees on the public right-of-way to provide a clear view of billboards, and the billboard industry is pushing hard to extend the practice to other states.

Cutting the public's trees on the right-of-way to provide a better view of billboards gives rise to several questions. What is the relationship between the outdoor advertising business and the roadway? Are billboards a use of private property or a use of the road? Does an outdoor advertising company have the inherent right to a clear view from the roadway? If the highway authority refuses to cut the trees to provide this view, doe the obstruction of view constitute a compensable taking for the billboard's owners? Finally, if the public authority allows trees on the right-of-way to be destroyed in order to provide a clear view of billboards, does this constitute an illegal gift of public property for a non-profit purpose or an illegal relinquishment of right-of-way?

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NPR Reports: In Florida, billboards trump trees

A report by David Barron on National Public Radio examines an issue NPR logoScenic America has been working on for years: the battle between communities who want to plant and maintain trees and the billboard companies who want motorists to have unadulterated views of their signs.

While the practice of billboard companies destroying the public's trees is an issue all across the country, in this story Barron focuses on a swath of trees on a highway near Orlando, Florida. The piece includes commentary from Bill Jonson, a Scenic America board member and President of Citizens for a Scenic Florida.

Click here to listen to the report.

Beauty and the Beast publicationMore information on the practice of tree cutting around billboards can be found here on our website. In addition, our recent publication Beauty and the Beast is available as a free PDF download. The publication examines how the billboard industry makes money by chopping down the public's trees, why states let them do it, and how you can stop it.