Land use disputes arising from the regulation of outdoor advertising signs (i.e., billboards) are not foreign in Pennsylvania, and over the past several decades, have become an increasingly common source of litigation in both state and federal court. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit added Adams Outdoor Advertising v. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 20841 (3d. Cir. 2019), to the billboard case law progeny.

By way of background, in 1965 the Federal Highway Beautification Act, 23 U.S.C. Section 131 et seq., was enacted to establish a framework for federal-state agreements related to the regulation of outdoor advertising signs near highways. In order to meet the commonwealth’s obligations under the act, in 1971 the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted the Outdoor Advertising Control Act, 36 Pa. Stat. Section 2718.101-115, which sets forth land use and permitting regulations applicable to outdoor advertising signs near the commonwealth’s interstate and primary highways. The Outdoor Advertising Act charges the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) with administration of the Outdoor Advertising Act.