I have a location that was always a very good location. And low and behold the state comes in and builds a new exit ramp off of the interchange before my board. They finished the exit and decided to plant Leyland Cypress trees along this exit ramp and now they have matured to about 1,000 feet high(lol) and now my board is totally blocked by these trees and the board is useless. So what recourse do I possibly have with this situation??
Randy,
I’ve had the same thing happen before. About the only thing you can do is to talk to the state and see if they will give you approval to clear enough vegetation to have a clear read of your sign. Some states actually allow this, and have a permit process to get a “vegetation easement”. Otherwise, about the only thing you can do is to “rent” that face by putting up a “public service message” and write it off your taxes (seek the counsel of a CPA on this). That’s what many of the big companies do in those cases.
I would think there would be legal recourse of some type as basically this is a “taking” since the states tree planting has rendered the board useless. I understand the write off thing but to be quite hones I need income not write offs!!!LOL The board is useless and I would not even attempt to put a public service up as it would be a useless task except maybe in the dead of winter and these are evergreens so that may not even be an issue. Unfortunately, I own the property the board is on and it has no use other than a board location. I will contact our DOT and see what they have to say about it.
as I understand it, these kind of improvements by the state are actually a defacto taking of your property rights…even better that you own the land… find counsel thru your local sign association… your losses would be based on the proven rent you have collected in the past, by the number of years you could reasonably expect the structure to be viable… its a form of eminent domain taking and there is case history publicized that i have seen regarding commercial on site signs… but i am not an attorney… hire one who specializes in this.
thanks for the reply back and the info. I am awaiting a response from our DOT and then will move forward dependent on what they say.
DOT agreed to remove “some” trees???
Randy-
Bradd is giving very sound advice. I am not an atty either. But I deal with right of way for a living for a utility. I don’t know your state but in some states DOT pays all costs. Check into it. look for an attorney who experienced in eminent domain or at least board certified in real estate. If you want to contact me i will be glad to see who in my contacts might be in your state… Good luck.
Regards
RussG