Monumedia II, LLC v. Georgia Department of Transportation

The trial court erred in affirming administrative rulings holding that a business's light-emitting diode signs inside the windows of its building violated City of Atlanta ordinances and the Georgia Outdoor Advertising Control Act.

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Dillard, Chief Judge.

In 2013, Monumedia, II, LLC (“Monumedia”) installed three signs inside the windows of a building located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta that were visible to traffic on Peachtree Road. Not long after that, the City of Atlanta informed Monumedia that the signs violated City ordinances. And one month later, the Georgia Department of Transportation (“DOT”) similarly informed Monumedia that the signs violated the Georgia Outdoor Advertising Control Act (“OACA”), OCGA § 32-6-70 et seq. Monumedia challenged the City’s decision before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (“BZA”), and challenged the DOT’s decision before an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) from the Office of State Administrative Hearings (“OSAH”), but was unsuccessful on both fronts. Monumedia then, separately, sought review of these decisions in the Superior Court of Fulton County, which affirmed the agencies’ decisions in both cases.Monumedia now appeals both decisions, and because these cases arise from the same set of facts, we have consolidated the separate appeals for review. Specifically, in Case No. A17A0647, Monumedia contends that the superior court erred in concluding that OACA regulates signs located inside a building, that its signs can be characterized as “multiple message signs” under the Act, and that the DOT did not bear the burden of showing that an exemption to the permit requirement under the Act was not applicable. In Case No. A17A1127, Monumedia contends that the superior court erred in concluding that the City’s sign ordinances prohibited its signs, that the City’s violation of the Open Meetings Act did not invalidate the BZA’s ruling, and that ex parte contacts between City officials and the BZA did not invalidate the latter’s ruling. For the reasons set forth infra, we reverse in both cases.

Monumedia II, LLC v. Georgia Department of Transportation

The trial court erred in affirming administrative rulings holding that a business's light-emitting diode signs inside the windows of its building violated City of Atlanta ordinances and the Georgia Outdoor Advertising Control Act.

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