Traverso

Section 5463 of the Business and Professions Code permits the California Department of Transportation (hereafter Caltrans), on 10 days’ written notice, to revoke a permit or license and remove and destroy any off-premises billboard that fails to comply with the provisions of the California Outdoor Advertising Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 5200 et seq.; further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated). In this case we must decide whether the provisions of the first paragraph of section 5463, authorizing Caltrans to take such action, impermissibly interfere with the procedural due process guarantees of the state and federal Constitutions. For the reasons set forth below, we uphold the facial validity of the portion of section 5463 in question and find that its application to the billboard owner here did not offend state and federal due process principles.

We express no opinion on the constitutional validity of the statute’s remaining provisions. Our reference here to “section 5463,” rather than to its first paragraph, is for convenience only.

I. Facts

In 1933, the Legislature enacted a statutory scheme for the regulation of off-premises advertising…

The United States Constitution prohibits government from depriving an individual of property without due process of law. This guarantee means that before the government may take property, it must provide the property owner with a right to a hearing on the proposed deprivation, and advance notice of that hearing. In this case, the majority holds that the state may seize and destroy a billboard, although the record unequivocally shows that the owner of the billboard was never given any notice that he had a right to a hearing.

I dissent. Because the billboard owner received no notice informing him that he was entitled to contest the state’s determination that his property *1168 would be destroyed, his constitutional right to due process was violated. The majority’s approach is contrary to controlling precedent of the United States Supreme Court, and its result is offensive to fundamental fairness.

Facts 1

Richard Traverso, doing business as Adco Outdoor Advertising, owned two off-premises billboards in Cotati. The billboards were mounted on a “V” type display structure. Permits were first granted for the billboards by the California Department of Transportation (hereafter…

Section 5463 of the Business and Professions Code permits the California Department of Transportation (hereafter Caltrans), on 10 days' written notice, to revoke a permit or license and remove and destroy any off-premises billboard that fails to comply with the provisions of the California Outdoor Advertising Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 5200 et seq.; further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated). In this case we must decide whether the provisions of the first paragraph of section 5463, authorizing Caltrans to take such action, impermissibly interfere with the procedural due process guarantees of the state and federal Constitutions. For the reasons set forth below, we uphold the facial validity of the portion of section 5463 in question and find that its application to the billboard owner here did not offend state and federal due process principles.

We express no opinion on the constitutional validity of the statute's remaining provisions. Our reference here to "section 5463," rather than to its first paragraph, is for convenience only.

In 1933, the Legislature enacted a statutory scheme for the regulation of off-premises…