Editor’s note: Due to a production error, a previous version of this article contained an incorrect citation. The citation has been corrected; The Recorder regrets the error.
General advertising billboards (by definition, a structure or wall or other kind of sign advertising a business or product having no relation to the site of the billboard), have been around for a century or more, so one would think the law in California is well-settled. There is certainly an interest for a clear body of law, given the billions spent on general advertising in California each year. To the contrary, the law on the subject, once considered settled, is in great flux thanks to several cases in California cities and counties in the past 10 years. The primary issue is whether the property owner, or the billboard company that leases space, holds the right to place a billboard on a particular site. This question arises in the localities in California (of which there are an increasing number), such as San Francisco, where there is a ban on all new billboards. When a billboard company reaches the end of its lease in such localities, it has in the past held all the negotiating power in extensions or renewals of leases. These leases are often at rents well below market since the contracts can be 10 to 60 years old. Also, these leases are often written so as to cause automatic renewal at the end of each term unless a property owner remembers to give notice not to renew within quite a few months prior to the end of the lease term.
