Opinion ID: 199548
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Outdoor Advertising Market

Text: 3 The highly regulated nature of the billboard market in the Greater Boston area makes it impossible, or at least nearly impossible, to obtain a permit to build a new billboard. RSA Media, No. 97-11250-RWZ, at 3. Federal, state, and local law all play a significant role in this regulatory regime. The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 regulates billboards on or near interstate highways. 23 U.S.C. § 131 et seq. The Massachusetts Outdoor Advertising Board (OAB) controls the state licensing and permitting process, pursuant to an extensive set of state-promulgated regulations. 2 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93 §§ 29-32; Mass. Regs. Code tit. 711, § 3.00 et seq. To participate in the outdoor advertising market, a prospective billboard owner must obtain a license from the OAB. Mass. Regs. Code tit. 711, § 3.02(1). Furthermore, a billboard operator must obtain a permit for each billboard that he operates. Id. § 3.02(2). A billboard operator must also negotiate a lease with the owner of the property on which the billboard sits. 3 4 Many of the existing billboards in Boston are grand fathered, meaning that they are in locations in which a new billboard would be prohibited by either federal or state law or by local zoning ordinances. RSA Media, No. 97-11250-RWZ, at 2. If a grand fathered billboard is torn down, no new billboard can be built in that location. Id. Although there are currently non-grand fathered billboards in locations which would theoretically allow the construction of a replacement billboard, as a practical matter it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain approval for a replacement billboard from both the OAB and local zoning authorities. 4 Id.; see also Mass. Regs. Code tit. 711, § 3.07 (requirements for new permits). The effect of these regulations is to make the number of billboards in Greater Boston either static or diminishing. RSA Media, No. 97-11250-RWZ, at 2. 5