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“Digital billboards coming to Gainesville; deal came after Fairway threatened lawsuit”
Photo: Scott Rogers, Gainsville Times "Gainesville officials have reached a compromise to allow digital billboards within the city limits after nearly three years of negotiations and threats of a lawsuit. Close to 70 billboards are located in Gainesville, with the...
read moreLegal: In Kenya, county “pulls down billboards of firms that illegally fell or poison trees”
Photo: Collins Langat, The Star, Kenya "The county says it will pull down billboards owned by at least five advertising firms, which it says are notorious for illegally felling trees on major roads. It plans to start this week. Some trees even have been poisoned by...
read moreLegal: Illegal billboards are simply removed in Pakistan
Photo: Pakastan Today "National Highways Authority (NHA) and district administration on Tuesday jointly started a drive against illegal billboards around motorway near Charsadda interchange and pulled them down. In the presence law enforcement personnel, the staff of...
read more“Milton mulls ‘wind sign’ amendment”
Photo: Wiki Commons "City staffers have examined a law related to business signage, and are considering amending the ordinance to allow businesses to display certain types of signs for an extended period. The signs in question are wind signs — sometimes known as...
read moreLegal: Campaign Signs “Sign controversy brewing on Holiday Isle”
Photo: NWF Daily News "Two residents of Holiday Isle in Destin were cited by the neighborhood’s Holiday Isle Improvement Association this week for violating the organization’s sign codes, but they believe the citations could potentially be politically motivated. Alan...
read moreState Control of Tree Cutting? “Clearing trees from I-95 in Georgia will make roads safer, DOT says”
Photo: The Florida Times Union "The drive along Interstate 95 in Georgia gets uglier by the day as trees are taken down, but state transportation officials say the clear cutting will improve safety. The 'vegetative management projects' along I-95 are aimed at reducing...
read moreLegal: “Pasco considering easing sign restrictions”
Photo:Orlando Sentinel "Pasco County, which prohibits digital signs for commercial uses, is poised to ease that restriction. Kind of. Sort of. If you own 200 acres or have a 35,000-square-foot building with 2,000 seats or 450 parking spots, you can have a digital...
read moreSnipe Signs: “Hillsborough County cracks down on illegal placement of signs”
Photo: WTSP "Snipe signs -- you see them everywhere; while you're driving, walking or riding your bike. You probably had no idea how many problems they cause. Now, two men in Hillsborough County have made it their mission to get rid of as many illegal signs as...
read moreSnipe Signs: “Destin continues battle vs. snipe signs”
"Another week, another batch of 'snipe' signs removed. That Whac-A-Mole-like scenario is a routine part of the workload of code enforcement officers, including those who work for the city of Destin..." -- Tony Judnich, NW Florida Daily Read article...
read moreOrlando: Council OKs program to swap old billboards for digital ones
Photo: Orlando Sentinel Orlando commissioners Monday OK’d a plan that aims to remove billboards from the city’s neighborhood streets by allowing them to be swapped out for digital signs along major roadways. The Digital Billboard Exchange Program, approved unanimously...
read moreLegal: “Longboat sign code rewrite not to be heard again until after elections”
Photo:YourObserver.com "Longboat Key commissioners shelved until after the March elections a sign code town staff have been rewriting for more than a year to meet Supreme Court standards of content neutrality... The latest iteration of Longboat's proposed sign code...
read more“Bike Dreams”
Photo: Roberto Gonzalez "Can we ever find a path that leads to bicycles and cars sharing the road in harmony? Many believe so. Here’s a bit of history and a look to the future. ...Cyclists and many of Central Florida’s civic and government leaders have been promoting...
read moreHappy Holidays
Photo: The Beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel
read more“Three months after Hurricane Irma, canals in the Florida Keys are still full of debris”
Photo: Katie Atkins, Miami Herald "A photo of manatees in a Florida Keys canal surrounded by Hurricane Irma debris posted to Facebook has sparked outrage online. The photo was posted Dec. 7 in the Facebook group 'Irma Big Pine Key' and it was later clarified the canal...
read moreEducational Video on Local Control
Image: Keep it Local Florida -- Keep it Local Florida View video and other materials on the KeepItLocalFlorida.org...
read moreLegal: “Jax City Council defends tree canopy against ‘sledgehammer’ government in Tallahassee”
Photo: Steve Bisson "The Jacksonville City Council approved legislation this week that opposes a state bill (HB 521/SB 574) that would cut the heart out of the city’s tree canopy protections. The state bill, filed by Republican Greg Steube in the Senate and Democrat...
read moreInvasive Species: “Space Invaders”
Photo: David Moynahan in Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission bulletin "Recently, I was at a local bar shooting aliens. They just kept coming, rows and rows of them, dropping bombs while I tried to pick them off with one puny laser after another. I had a...
read moreAddressing derelict boats will take more resources in Palmetto, police chief says
Photo: Tiffany Tompkins "On one side of the Green Bridge in Palmetto sits the Regatta Pointe Marina, where the liveaboard lifestyle is growing and flourishing. Boat owners take care of their vessels, pay their fees and enjoy their 'homes' on the water. On the other...
read moreLegal Update: Sample Resolution Opposing SB 574 and HB 521
Sample Resolution in .pdf format The Bills in Senate and House: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/00574 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/521 Read Herald Tribune...
read moreLegal Alert: Tree trimming preemption “Steube files bill to abolish city and county tree protections”
Photo: Herald Tribune The Bills in Senate and House: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/00574 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/521 "City and county rules protecting trees are the next battleground in the rolling fight between local governments and...
read moreFlorida League of Cities: Oppose state’s tree control preemption
"SB 574 (Steube) and HB 521 (Edwards) preempt to the state the trimming, removal or harvesting of trees and timber on private property, and prohibit local governments from restricting these activities on private property. The bills also prohibit local governments...
read moreFun Festivals and Events
Central Florida
To March 3
Real Music Concert Series, Tampa Bay
March 1 and March 31
Climb to the Moon, Ponce Inlet
March 1-11
Florida Strawberry Festival, Plant City
March 2-4
Swamp Fest, Weeki Wachee
March 3
First Saturday Workshops and Jam, Barberville
March 3
Brevard County 4-H Family 5K, Melbourne
March 3-4
Palm Harbor Craft Festival, Palm Harbor
Through March 4
Music on the Bay, Tampa
March 3-4
Floral City Strawberry Festival, Floral City
March 3-4
The Grant Seafood Festival, Grant
March 3-4
Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa
March 4
Chocolate Festival, Melbourne
March 9-18
Orlando Bike Week, Orlando
March 9-18
Bike Week, Daytona Beach
March 9-18
Firefighters’ Indian River County Fair, Vero Beach
March 10
Taste of Oviedo, Oviedo
March 16-18
Annual Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, Winter Park
March 17
Downtown DeLand Classic Car Show, DeLand
March 22
ARTLife, Daytona Beach
March 23-26
Sertoma Youth Ranch Spring Bluegrass Festival, Brooksville
March 23-25
Annual Spring Daytona Turkey Run
March 24
Color Me Crazy 5K Walk/Run, New Smyrna Beach
March 24-25
Melbourne Air and Space Show, Melbourne
March 24-25
Indialantic Art Festival, Indialantic
March 24-25
St Pete Beach Corey Area Craft Festival, St Pete Beach
March 24-25
Annual Spring Fine Arts Festival, Englewood
March 26-April 1
Citrus County Fair, Inverness
March 31-April 1
Annual Cuban Sandwich Festival, Ybor City
March 31-April 1
Brownwood Paddock Square Art and Craft Festival, The Villages
March 31-April 1
Downtown Melbourne Festival of the Arts
South Florida
To March 4
Southwest Florida and Lee County Fair, North Fort Myers
To March 4
Festival of the Arts BOCA, Boca Raton
To March 20
National Art Exhibition, Punta Gorda
March 1 – 3
Sanibel Shell Fair and Show, Sanibel Island
March 1-4
Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival, Okeechobee
March 2
Naples City Live Music Festival, Naples
March 3
Sharks Tooth 10K run, Venice
March 3
Southwest Florida Reading Festival, Fort Myers
March 3
Carnaval Miami Cork and Fork, Coral Gables
March 3
Conch Shell Blowing Contest, Key West
March 3-4
Las Olas Art Fair Part II, Fort Lauderdale
March 3-4
Downtown Venice Art Classic, Venice
March 3-27
Sanibel Music Festival, Sanibel Island
March 4
JM Lexus Sunday Jazz Brunch, Fort Lauderdale
March 4
131 Marathon Miami, Miami Beach
March 5-6
Bonita Springs National Art Festival, Bonita Springs
March 8-11
All-Florida Championship Rodeo, Arcadia
March 9-18
Miami International Film Festival, Miami
March 9-11
Fairchild’s International Orchid Festival, Coral Gables
March 10-11
Art Festival Miami Springs, Miami
March 10-11
Original Marathon Seafood Festival, Marathon
March 10-11
Art Fest by the Sea, Juno Beach
March 9-11
Art Under The Oaks, Vero Beach
March 10-11
Fort Myers Beach Lions Club Shrimp Festival, Fort Myers Beach
March 10-11
Punta Gorda Sullivan Street Craft Festival, Punta Gorda
March 14-18
Art Boca Raton, Boca Raton
March 16-17
Delray Beach St Patrick’s Day Festival, Delray Beach
March 16-17
Historic House Tours, Key West
March 17-18
Coral Springs Festival of the Arts, Coral Springs
March 22-25
Palm Beach International Boat Show, West Palm Beach
March 23-25
Ultra Music Festival, Miami
March 23-25
Marco Island Seafood and Music Festival, Marco Island
March 24
TurtleFest, Juno Beach
March 31
Cars as Art, Marco Island
North Florida
March 2
First Friday at Railroad Square Art Park, Tallahassee
March 2-31
Miniature Marks Art Exhibit, St Augustine
March 3
Menorcan Cultural Celebration, St Augustine
March 3
Race the Tortoise 5K, High Springs
March 3-4
Azalea Festival, Palatka
March 3-4
The Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire, Pensacola
March 3-4
Battle of Natural Bridge Reenactment, Woodville
March 4
Tallahassee Jewish Food amd Cultural Festival, Tallahassee
March 8-11
Red Hills International Horse Trials, Tallahassee
March 9-11
Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Amelia Island
March 9-11
The St Augustine Celtic Music amd Heritage Festival, St Augustine
March 10
Gate River Run, Jacksonville
March 10- 16
Choctawhatchee Challenge, Gainesville
March 16-18
Lions Seafood Festival, St Augustine
March 16-18
Smokin’ in the Square, Pensacola
March 16-29
Suwannee Spring Reunion, Live Oak
March 17
City of Destin Run with the Dogs 5K, Destin
March 23-25
Tallahassee Film Festival, Tallahassee
March 24
The Fuzzy Pineapple Art and Craft Festival, Tallahassee
March 23-25
Duval Spring Fest, Jacksonville
March 24
Phoenix Rising Festival, Jacksonville
March 24-25
Spring Garden Festival, Gainesville
March 31
Brick City Beer and Wine Festival, Ocala
March 31
Springtime Tallahassee Festival and Grand Parade, Tallahassee
For many more events and details please visit the Orlando Times Travel Calendar here

Photo:The Defuniak Herald
Legal Update: “New motions filed in Federal lawsuit involving Private Beach signs”
“”Beachfront property owners who had sued Walton County in federal court over its ordinance banning unpermitted obstructions on the beach such as ropes, chains, signs, and fences, have filed new motions in the case.
Among other requests, they have asked the court for a stay on discovery proceedings in connection with common law customary right issues until the court resolves the property owners’ claims against another ordinance, the customary use ordinance approved by Walton County on Oct. 25…The ordinance banning unpermitted obstructions on the beach stated that it applied to the beach as defined as ‘the soft sandy portion of land lying seaward of the seawall or the line of permanent dune vegetation.’
The plaintiffs, Ed and Delanie Goodwin, owners of beachfront property at Fort Panic in south Walton County, had filed their lawsuit in July 18, soon after Walton County approved the ordinance disallowing beach obstructions.
The litigation was in the form of a civil rights lawsuit. It alleged that the county ordinance prevented beachfront owners from using signs to convey messages, including those indicating property boundaries and private ownership—and that the ordinance therefore impeded signs as ‘a medium of speech.’ As such, the property owners maintained, the ordinance ‘violates the First Amendment on its face.’ They asked the court to bar enforcement of the ordinance, among other requests. In an August 15 response, Walton County argued that the property owners’ case was not ‘about’ free speech but was instead a disguised property rights position aimed at securing ‘a beachhead against the potential determination that the public has gained the right of use of the subject beach through the Customary Use doctrine.’
The county further stated that the ordinance did not interfere with the property owners’ ability to ‘display on their property any message they like in any manner they like, even using signs, so long as they comport with the restriction as to location.’ Signs, according to the county response, ‘are implicated only to the extent that they constitute an obstruction on the beach.’
In an Aug. 19 order, M. Casey Rodgers, chief United States District judge and presiding judge in the case, ordered an evidentiary hearing, observing, in part that, ‘If a public use custom is established, the property owner does not have the right to interfere with the public’s right of use and enjoyment…and thus the Plaintiffs’ alternative means of communication, i.e., placing signs on the remainder of their property, would be adequate.’ Adding that the ‘custom and use doctrine requires a fact-intensive inquiry that must be determined on a fully developed record,’ Judge Rodgers stated that this issue would ‘decide the merits of the suit.’ She ordered thus proceeding with the trial on its merits, with it to be consolidated with a hearing on the preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs.
The Goodwins were allowed to amend their original complaint to include both the obstruction and customary use ordinances. On Nov. 14 they filed a motion requesting an injunction against the recently-approved customary use ordinance, arguing that it represented a ‘taking’ of their property.
The customary use ordinance provides for public ‘at large’ to utilize the dry sand areas of the beach without interference for traditional recreational activities—with the exception of a buffer zone to be set aside at a distance seaward of the toe of the dune, or at the same distance from any privately-owned permanent habitable structure on or adjacent to the dry sand areas of the beach, whichever is more seaward.
The Nov. 14 motion was followed the next day by a motion by the Goodwins for a stay of discovery proceedings in connection with common law customary right uses of the beach until their taking claims in connection with the customary use ordinance had been resolved.
In the latest filing, on Nov. 21, Walton County responded to the plaintiffs amended complaint, asking the court to grant a motion requiring a ‘more definite statement’ from the plaintiffs, calling the complaint: ‘a vague, ambiguous, incoherent jumble.'”
— Dotty Nist, The Defuniak Herald

Boca: “First sharrow placed in city neighborhood”
“The city has installed its first sharrow, a shared lane marking and sign for motorists and bicyclists that could be a model for other neighborhoods with a heavy bike presence…

Diagram: Figure 9-3 Florida Greenbook |

Developer who supports scenic beauty, buys property and bulldozes billboard!
“This billboard was purchased by a local development company, Dream Designs, Inc. in Rapid City, SD, so that they could take it down, and use the land for housing. They supported Scenic Rapid City in 2011 during the Billboard Initiative.
This billboard was completely non confirming and Grandfathered in. It had two boards on each side. They were two different sizes and OVERSIZED in a prime location; on a hill so that traffic had to view it.
It took away from the scenic beauty of our beautiful Black Hills since it was on the road to Mount Rushmore National Monument but still inside the Rapid City limits.'”
— Scenic Rapid City


Drawing: From Tampa Bay Times
“City planner Jeff Speck’s vision for Tampa’s downtown involves cooler temperatures and more walking. Speck is the lead planner overseeing the team working with Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and an engineering firm Stantec to redevelop land in the Channelside area…

“The deceptive nature of architectural renderings”
“Architects use many mediums to express their designs, ideas, and concepts. They use orthographic drawings, physical models, as well as digital models…How can we differentiate between what is reality and what is a false and biased representation of a building? How about photographs of architecture?

Miami: Commission CHANGES SIGN CODE to eliminate advertising towers
Delete. Throw out. Discard. Trash.
“…The measure, championed by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, deletes the term ‘media towers’ from the city’s zoning code known as Miami 21.However, an attorney for Michael Simkins, the Miami Beach-based developer of the innovation tower [Giant LED Billboard Towers], told commissioners that his client plans to move forward with pending permit applications to build the project.’We will continue to implement this development irrespective of what is done today,’ said Tony Recio, a partner with Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman. ‘We look forward to having the permits fairly reviewed and evaluated.’In a statement to The Real Deal, Simkins said he does not believe the new ordinance can be applied to his project. ‘We are disappointed by the commission’s action,’ Simkins said. ‘But we expect the city to comply with the law and respect our rights by honoring the sign permit applications and media tower approval by the CRA, and processing the sign applications in good faith.’City commissioners Frank Carrollo, Willy Gort and Marc Sarnoff again voted in favor of the ordinance despite an impassioned plea from Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who was the innovation tower’s main supporter because he believes the project will generate jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for Overtown. ‘That one time things are moving forward in a community that has been stagnant for such a long time, we make sure we put the roadblock right in the middle of it,’ Hardemon said. ‘This is a slap in the face of the Overtown community.’
Simkins has touted the tower as the anchor to a 10-acre technology district that will help revitalize one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Hardemon, who represents the district and who is chairman of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Development Agency, backs the project because Simkins has agreed to pay the semi-autonomous city agency $5 million prior to construction, and $1 million, or 3 percent of gross sales generated by the project every year after completion.
Recio also said Simkins has committed to giving local preference to Overtown residents on construction jobs and for the operation of the innovation tower. In June, prior to the city commission’s first vote, Simkins’ company Innovate applied for permits to embed the LED signs within the skin of the proposed tower’s twisting façade and along its pedestal.
— Francisco Alvarado, The Real Deal, South Florida Real Estate News