State legislation authored by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield
(D – San Fernando Valley) and Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D – Los Angeles) was approved by the full Assembly on a vote of 46 – 14. The bill now moves to the state Senate for consideration.
The bill, AB 2756, would prohibit the parking of an unhitched trailer with advertising attached to it on any public street. Not only are these mobile billboards a visual blight, they are a safety hazard for drivers who must swerve around them, and they use up valuable parking spaces.
“I’m tired of seeing these unsightly billboards on unhitched trailers all over our neighborhoods. They are nothing more than road spam. I know many others are sick of them too. Literally hundreds of people in our community have complained to me about these eyesores. It’s time to get rid of them once and for all,” Blumenfield said.
“These signs are a distracting safety hazard for drivers, a source of blight in neighborhoods, and a drain on scarce parking spaces intended for business patrons. They should be prohibited unless a city or county affirmatively wants to allow them,” said joint author Assemblymember Mike Feuer.
For years, the City of Los Angeles and other local governments have attempted to control the proliferation of mobile billboards locally, but their efforts have been hampered by litigation, and requirements that signs prohibiting them must be posted at every entrance to the city. In Los Angeles, a city with thousands of such access points, the signage requirements are not financially or physically feasible. Now, the City of Los Angeles is in strong support of AB 2756, which as a state statute will be enforceable without the onerous requirements. AB 2756 also would not preempt local communities, such as West Hollywood, that have adopted ordinances that seem to be achieving the goal of controlling the signs.
