You need to know what your sign code says about abandoned signs.  Sometimes it makes sense to leave advertising on a sign even after a contract runs out to avoid having a sign declared abandoned.  An  April 12, 2016  Missouri Appeals Court ruling highlights the importance of knowing what your sign code says about abandoned signs and cure periods.

• Claudia Lee and Associates owned a legal non-conforming sign in Kansas City.

• The Kansas City sign code says that is a legal nonconforming billboard remains blank for a continuous period of 90 days, the sign is considered abandoned and must be removed. The Kansas City sign code also says that the city planning and development director must provide written notes of sign deficiencies and a sign owner must be given 30 days to repove a sign or bring the sign into compliance with Code.

• In November 2010 a resident complained to Kansas City that the billboard had been blank for 30 days.  The city called the sign owner and left a message says that the sign was blank.  The billboard remained blank from November  On March 3, 2011 Claudia Lee & Associates notified the city that a new ad message had been placed on the sign.  On March 9, 2011 Kansas City notified Claudia Lee and Associates that signs the sign had been blank for more than 90 days the sign was abandoned and had to be taken down.  The notice offered no chance to cure.

• Claudia Lee and Associates sued, saying that it had not been given a notice to cure citing a provision in the sign code.  The city responded that provision was not needed in the case of blank signs.

• The local Zoning Board of Appeals and the Circuit Court affirmed the city’s decision.  The State Supreme court, however, found in favor or Claudia Lee and Associates and reversed the ruling.  The Supreme court argued that the 30 day notice provision applied to blank signs as well as occupied signs so Kansas City and the Circuit Court erred in determining that Claudia Lee and Associates was not entitled to a 30 day cure period.

Insider’s take: Know what your sign code says about abandoned signs.  Claudia Lee and Associates won, but could have avoided the cost and distraction of litigation by keeping advertising on the sign instead of letting the sign become empty.  Insider is aware of an operator in Florida who lost a static billboard because he let a billboard go blank for too long.

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