Opinion ID: 1181276
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the Act Violates the Just Compensation and Due Process Clauses

Text: In their second point, plaintiffs attack the Act's permit provisions on two constitutional grounds. First, plaintiffs contend that the permit provisions allow for the taking of private property without payment of just compensation in violation of the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, § 20 of the New Mexico Constitution. Second, they argue that the provisions abridge their due process rights in violation of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, § 18 of the New Mexico Constitution. Plaintiffs challenge the court's conclusions which provide, in effect, that: 1) enforcement of the Act against plaintiffs does not take or damage their private property for public use without just compensation and therefore does not violate the United States and New Mexico Constitutions; and 2) enforcement of the Act against plaintiffs does not deprive them of due process of law under the United States and New Mexico Constitutions. The specific provisions attacked by plaintiffs include §§ 67-12-4(B) and (C), 67-12-5(C) and (D), 67-12-6(A)(1) and (2), and 67-12-6(C) and (F). These provisions were added to the Act in 1971 and became effective on March 15, 1971. See N.M. Laws 1971, ch. 108 §§ 2, 3 and 4. Under § 67-12-4(B) and (C), any outdoor advertising which was lawfully in existence on the effective date of the Act and which has continued to so exist may remain in place until it is acquired by the Commission, but only so long as the advertising conforms with standards and bears permits for which the fee has been paid. The Commission may acquire outdoor advertising if it bears the requisite permit and the permit fee required in connection with the advertising's maintenance has been timely paid. § 67-12-6(A)(1) and (2). A permit fee is deemed timely paid if it is received by the Commission on or before the first day of the year for which it is being paid. Failure of timely payment renders the outdoor advertising subject to removal by the Commission without any compensation whatsoever and at the expense of the owner of the outdoor advertising. § 67-12-5(D). Finally, no notice is required in connection with permit fees. § 67-12-6(C). The regulation of outdoor advertising along interstate and primary highways is a reasonable and proper exercise of the police power. See, e.g., National Advertising, 91 N.M. at 193, 571 P.2d at 1196; Markham Advertising Company v. State, 73 Wash.2d 405, 439 P.2d 248, 261 (1968), appeal dismissed, 393 U.S. 316, 89 S.Ct. 553, 21 L.Ed.2d 512 (1969), rehearing denied, 393 U.S. 1112, 89 S.Ct. 854, 21 L.Ed.2d 813 (1969); In Re Opinion of the Justices, 103 N.H. 268, 169 A.2d 762, 764 (1964); General Outdoor Adv. Co., 193 N.E. at 816. In Newman Signs, Inc., supra, the North Dakota Supreme Court considered whether that state's Highway Beautification Act's purposes were within the scope of the state's police power. The court said: [A] reasonable restriction of the use of property pursuant to a State's police power does not constitute a taking of private property for public use requiring payment of just compensation so long as the regulation is reasonably related to a proper purpose and does not unreasonably deprive the property owner of all or substantially all beneficial use of his property. (Citations omitted.) 268 N.W.2d at 755-6. The court concluded that the North Dakota Act was reasonably related to legitimate governmental purposes and that it did not deprive plaintiff of all or substantially all of the beneficial use of its property. We note that the purposes of North Dakota's Act are similar to those provided in § 67-12-3 of the Act. Those purposes include promoting the safety and convenience of those traveling on the highways; protecting the public investment in the State highway system; and promoting the enjoyment and recreational value of the State highways. Id. at 757. See also Markham Advertising Company, 439 P.2d at 260. We hold that the Act's restrictions are reasonably related to proper purposes. Furthermore, the restrictions do not unreasonably deprive the property owner of all or substantially all beneficial use of his property. The owner of the land upon which a sign is situated merely loses the right to use or lease certain areas of his property for the purpose of highway billboards. The sign owner merely loses the right to place the billboard on certain sites. In addition, the State Highway Department only orders the removal of those signs which are illegal. Thus, a sign owner only loses the use of a sign in a particular location if he either erects the sign after 1966 in contravention of the Act or if he fails to keep his permit current. Cf. Sullivan Outdoor Advertising v. Dept. of Transp., 420 F. Supp. 815 (N.D.Ill. 1976). In Sullivan Outdoor Advertising, the federal district court addressed the constitutionality of the Illinois Highway Advertising Control Act of 1971, Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 121, § 501 et seq. (1973). Like our Act, the Illinois statute provides that certain classes of signs, which are declared unlawful, are subject to removal without just compensation. The court determined that plaintiff's contention, that the provision allowing for the taking of signs without compensation conflicted with the just compensation clause of the federal Act, was insubstantial and devoid of merit. Id. at 819. We conclude that the Act is a valid exercise of the police power. We, therefore, affirm the court's conclusion that enforcement of the Act against plaintiffs does not violate the just compensation clauses of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions. Plaintiffs next argue that even if the Act is upheld as a valid exercise of the state's police power, the Act's permit provisions are unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious and, therefore, violate the due process clauses of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions. Plaintiffs' argument focuses on § 67-12-6(C). Even though § 67-12-6(C) does not require the State Highway Department to give notice in connection with permit fees, we note that the Department's standard procedure for removal of any illegal sign is the issuance of a thirty-day notice to the sign owner. Section 1063.00 of the Commission's regulations pertains to the removal of non-compensable signs. It provides: Permit Violations: Any outdoor advertising device, which has been erected or maintained in violation of the permit requirements of the Beautification Act or Regulations, which has been erected or maintained without timely payment of all permit fees required by the Beautification Act or Regulations, is subject to removal by the Department without any compensation whatsoever and at the expense of the owner of the outdoor advertising device. Such removal will be preceded by notice to the owner of the outdoor advertising device, if known, that the device must be removed within 30 days or will be subject to removal by the Department at the owner's expense. If the outdoor advertising device is not removed within the 30 days, the Department may thereafter remove the device at the expense of the owner of the device without any compensation whatsoever. (Emphasis added.) This procedure was followed in regard to all of the signs involved in this lawsuit. We find that this procedure complies with the requirements of procedural due process. In John Donnelly & Sons, supra, plaintiffs challenged the constitutional validity of the Maine Traveler Information Services Act, 23 M.R.S.A. §§ 1901-1925 (1978). Plaintiffs claimed that the Maine statute constituted an invalid exercise of the police power in contravention of the fourteenth amendment due process clause. The court determined that plaintiffs' claim was without merit. 453 F. Supp. at 1280. In Sullivan Outdoor Advertising, supra, the federal district court concluded that plaintiff's substantive due process claim was insubstantial. 420 F. Supp. at 820. Plaintiffs in Markham Advertising Company, supra, contended that Washington's Highway Control Act deprived them of due process because it authorized the taking of their property without compensation. The Washington Supreme Court said: When a court determines, as we have in this case, that the police power has been properly invoked, there is no basis for this contention. (Citations omitted.) ... Plaintiffs' due process rights have been secured to them once it has been determined that the exercise of the polic [ sic ] power is in harmony with constitutional requirements. 439 P.2d at 261. We adopt the rationale followed by the courts in John Donnelly & Sons, supra, Sullivan Outdoor Advertising, supra, and Markham Advertising Company, supra . Plaintiffs have failed to show that the Act is not in furtherance of legitimate legislative objectives or that the means set out by the Act and by the Commission's regulations are not reasonably related to the Act's objectives. We conclude that the Act's permit provisions are not arbitrary or capricious and that they are reasonably necessary in order for the State Highway Department to ensure compliance with the Act's provisions. The court's conclusion that enforcement of the Act against plaintiffs does not violate the due process clauses of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions is hereby upheld.