Citywide billboard capacity limited.
Long Beach Municipal Code § 21.54.160
in effect21.54.160 - Citywide billboard capacity limited.
The City of Long Beach finds that, at the time of adoption of this Chapter, a plenitude of modes of advertising were available via television, newspaper, magazines, circulars, direct mail, bulk mail, internet, email, mobile phones, City bus ads, bus stop posters, and other constantly-developing sources of ad placement. Also, the City finds that a sufficient or more than sufficient amount of billboard advertising capacity exists in the City to meet or exceed the community's need for outdoor advertising, and that a reduction in the amount of billboards Citywide will not impose any hardship upon the community through diminution of overall advertising capacity or options. Therefore, no building permit shall be issued for any new billboard, conversion of an existing non-electronic billboard to an electronic billboard, or expansion or addition of faces to an existing billboard, unless the following requirements are met:
A. An existing nonconforming billboard or billboards (as specified in Section 21.54.170) shall first be permanently removed from within the City as set forth in Table 54-2.
1. Nonconforming billboards shall be removed with the following priority, in order of highest priority to lowest:
a. Nonconforming billboards located in a residential zoning district and not adjacent to a street classified as a Freeway, Regional Corridor, or Major Arterial;
b. Nonconforming billboards located in a Planned Development District (or a subarea thereof) allowing residential uses and not adjacent to a street classified as a Freeway, Regional Corridor, or Major Arterial;
c. All other nonconforming billboards located in a residential zoning district or Planned Development District allowing residential uses;
d. All other nonconforming billboards located in a General Plan Land Use District allowing residential uses; and
e. All other nonconforming billboards.
2. Nonconforming billboards with more than one face shall be removed in their entirety and shall not be altered or partially dismantled in such a way as to leave behind one or more faces or portion(s) thereof.
B. If existing nonconforming billboards are permanently removed to satisfy Subsection 21.54.160.A, until no such nonconforming billboards (as specified in Section 21.54.170) remain in the City, then existing billboard area shall first be permanently removed from within the City as set forth in Table 54-3. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Director of Development Services, that no nonconforming billboards remain in the City.
C. In determining the existing display surface area to be removed to satisfy Subsection A or B above, if a billboard with more than one face is proposed, the sum of both faces shall be used. For example, if a billboard with two (2) three hundred (300) square-foot faces is proposed, a sum of six hundred (600) square feet shall be used to calculate the amount of removal required.
D. In all cases, the required removals shall be completed in accordance with one of the two (2) following alternatives:
1. The required removals shall be completed prior to issuance of a building permit for the new, converted, expanded or otherwise altered billboard; or
2. The Applicant shall, as part of the Conditional Use Permit approval process, provide a cash bond or equivalent financial instrument to the satisfaction of the Director of Financial Management, in an amount as determined by the Planning Commission to reasonably insure the prompt removal of billboards in accordance with this Section.
Regardless of the alternative selected, the applicant shall provide a list of all billboards to be removed to meet the removal requirements of Subsection 21.54.160.A or B, and shall obtain a separate demolition permit for each. In order that the applicant should not be subject to possible loss of development rights lawfully obtained through a Conditional Use Permit and performance of the required removal of billboards, said development rights, once obtained, shall be considered vested for one (1) year from the date of final action of the Conditional Use Permit or the date of execution of the development agreement by the City.
E. Fractional numbers and removal. The purpose of Subsections A and B above, is to require removal of a certain amount of billboard display surface area, rather than a specific number of billboards. However, it is not desirable for an existing billboard to be altered to reduce its size to comply with these requirements, due to the negative aesthetic impacts such alteration may create. Therefore, no billboard shall be reduced in size or otherwise altered to provide for the required removal, and only whole, entire billboard(s) shall be removed. In no case shall less than the required amount of display surface area be removed.
F. Ownership. Subsection 21.54.160.B shall not come into effect until all nonconforming billboards (as specified in Section 21.54.170) are removed from within the City, regardless of the ownership or management of those nonconforming billboards. Specifically, a party owning or managing billboards shall not be eligible for Subsection 21.54.160.B if only the nonconforming billboards owned or managed by that party are removed, while other nonconforming billboards yet remain in the City.
G. Other removal. Any billboard removed or demolished from within the City, or reduced in size, not in conjunction with a project requiring removal under Subsections 21.54.160.A or B, shall not be credited toward the removal requirements of Subsections 21.54.160.A or B above.
(ORD-14-0006 § 1, 2014)
Source: City of Long Beach, Municipal Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/ca/long_beach/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT21ZO_CH21.54BI_DIVIUSRE_21.54.160CIBICALIFetched: 10/28/2026