CITY OF MARYSVILLE
ORDINANCE NO. 1477
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE AMENDING SECTION 18.64.093(e) OF THE MARYSVILLE
MUNICIPAL CODE TO AUTHORIZE, ON A STRICTLY LIMITED BASIS, THE
REPLACEMENT OF THREE EXISTING STATIC OFF-SITE ADVERTISING
DISPLAYS WITH TWO ELECTRONIC OFF-SITE ADVERTISING DISPLAYS ALONG STATE ROUTE 70 IN CONNECTION WITH THE STATE ROUTE 70 SAFETY
IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, AND DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF
RECITALS
WHEREAS, the City of Marysville (“City”) regulates on-premises and off-premises signage through Chapter 18.64 of the Marysville Municipal Code (the “Sign Code”); and WHEREAS, Section 18.64.060 of the Sign Code prohibits, among other things, animated, moving, or revolving signs; flashing signs; changeable copy signs (including electronic message boards and video displays); electronic message board signs with moving letters or symbols; and off-site signs, except as otherwise expressly provided in Section 18.64.093(e); and WHEREAS, Section 18.64.093(e) permits off-site advertising displays (“billboards”) only in the C-3, M-1, and M-2 zoning districts, subject to the securing of a use permit, and further requires under subsection (e)(1) that all billboards be externally illuminated with white light, the effect of which is to prohibit electronic or digital billboard displays anywhere within the City; and WHEREAS, the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”), in cooperation with regional and local agencies, is undertaking a project to widen and improve State Route 70 in the vicinity of the Union Pacific Railroad bridge for the purpose of eliminating documented safety hazards and reducing the incidence of injury and fatal collisions along that corridor (the “SR 70 Safety Project”); and
WHEREAS, three lawfully erected and permitted static off-site advertising displays presently exist within or immediately adjacent to the Caltrans right-of-way along State Route 70, situated on real property owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company (collectively, the “Existing SR 70 Displays”); and
WHEREAS, the real property on which the Existing SR 70 Displays are located is required for construction of the SR 70 Safety Project, and the Existing SR 70 Displays must therefore be removed in order to allow the SR 70 Safety Project to proceed; and WHEREAS, California Business and Professions Code Section 5412 and related provisions of the Outdoor Advertising Act (Business and Professions Code Section 5200 et seq.) contemplate that a lawfully erected advertising display that is compelled to be removed by governmental action may be relocated pursuant to an agreement between the display owner and the affected public entity; and
WHEREAS, to enable the timely removal of the Existing SR 70 Displays, and thereby allow the SR 70 Safety Project to proceed without delay while avoiding the loss of a lawfully established property interest, the City Council finds it necessary and appropriate to authorize, on a strictly limited basis, the replacement of the three Existing SR 70 Displays with not more than two electronic off-site advertising displays at the two designated sites identified herein; and WHEREAS, the replacement of three static off-site advertising displays with two electronic offsite advertising displays results in a net reduction of one off-site advertising structure along the corridor, and the City Council finds that this net reduction, together with the operating standards imposed by this Ordinance, serves the public interest in traffic safety and community aesthetics; and
WHEREAS, the City Council further finds it in the public interest that each authorized electronic off-site advertising display reserve capacity, at all times, for a public service announcement authorized by the City of Marysville, so that the displays may be used to convey public safety, emergency, and other public-interest messaging to the traveling public; and WHEREAS, the City Council intends that this Ordinance authorize a maximum of two (2) electronic off-site advertising displays, at the two specific locations designated herein, and that this Ordinance not authorize, and not be construed to authorize, the conversion to electronic display of any other billboard or off-site advertising display anywhere within the City, nor the erection of any additional billboard anywhere within the City; and WHEREAS, the limited authorization provided by this Ordinance is conditioned upon compliance with all applicable requirements of the Sign Code (except as expressly modified herein), the issuance of a use permit, the execution of a relocation agreement consistent with Business and Professions Code Section 5412, and the issuance of all required permits by Caltrans under the Outdoor Advertising Act; and
WHEREAS, the immediate effectiveness of this Ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, because any delay in authorizing the removal of the Existing SR 70 Displays and the construction of the replacement displays would delay the SR 70 Safety Project and thereby prolong the exposure of the traveling public to the documented safety hazards along the State Route 70 corridor that the SR 70 Safety Project is designed to eliminate; and
WHEREAS, this Ordinance is adopted as an urgency ordinance pursuant to Government Code Section 36937(b) and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by a four-fifths (4/5) vote of the City Council.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MARYSVILLE DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings. The City Council finds and determines that the foregoing recitals are true and correct and are incorporated herein as findings of the City Council.
SECTION 2. Amendment of Section 18.64.093(e). Section 18.64.093(e) of the Marysville Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding a new subsection (6) to read as set forth below.
Existing subsections (e)(1) through (e)(5) remain unchanged. New text is set forth in full:
“(6) Limited Authorization for Electronic Displays — State Route 70 Billboard Replacement. Notwithstanding subsection (e)(1) of this section, and notwithstanding Section 18.64.060 (including its prohibitions on animated, moving, or revolving signs; flashing signs; changeable copy signs; electronic message board signs; and video displays) or any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, off-site advertising displays may be constructed and operated as electronic (digital) displays, subject to a use permit and to the conditions of this subsection (6), only as follows:
(A) Purpose and limited scope. This subsection (6) authorizes the replacement of the three lawfully permitted static off-site advertising displays existing as of the effective date of this subsection within or immediately adjacent to the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) right-of-way along State Route 70, located on property owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company (the “Existing SR 70 Displays”), which displays must be removed to accommodate the State Route 70 safety improvement project, with not more than two (2) electronic (digital) off-site advertising displays.
This subsection (6) is limited to that circumstance and shall not be construed to authorize the conversion to electronic display of any other off-site advertising display, or the erection of any additional off-site advertising display, at any other location within the City.
(B) Maximum number; removal of existing displays. Not more than two (2) electronic off-site advertising displays may be authorized under this subsection (6) in the aggregate. No electronic off-site advertising display is authorized at any location other than the two designated sites identified in subsection (6)(C). All three of the Existing SR 70 Displays shall be removed as a condition of, and no later than required by, the permits issued under this subsection (6).
(C) Designated locations. The two electronic off-site advertising displays authorized under this subsection (6) may be located only at the following two sites, and at no other location within the City:
(i) Site 1: Assessor’s Parcel Number 009-017-002-000, located on State Route 70 north of the Union Pacific Railroad bridge and oriented to serve southbound traffic; and
(ii) Site 2: Assessor’s Parcel Number 009-081-002-000, located on State Route 70 south of the Union Pacific Railroad bridge and oriented to serve northbound traffic. (D) Use permit and development standards; City Council approval authority. Each electronic off-site advertising display authorized under this subsection (6) shall require a use permit as provided in subsection (e) of this section, and shall comply with the height, area, location, and setback standards of subsections (e)(2) through (e)(5), except as expressly modified by this subsection (6). Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of this title designating a different approval authority, the City Council shall be the approval authority for any use permit required under this subsection (6).
The City Council shall approve, conditionally approve, or deny the use permit only after conducting a duly noticed public hearing, with notice given in the manner required by Government Code Sections 65090 and 65091. The decision of the City Council shall be final.
(E) Display operating standards. Each electronic off-site advertising display authorized under this subsection (6) shall comply with all applicable Caltrans requirements and with all conditions of any permit issued by Caltrans.
(F) Public service announcements. At all times, the message rotation of each electronic off-site advertising display authorized under this subsection (6) shall include not fewer than one (1) message slot reserved for a public service announcement authorized by the City of Marysville. The operator of each display shall display public service announcements and emergency messages authorized by the City — including, without limitation, public safety, emergency, and AMBER Alert messages — upon the City’s request, at no charge to the City of Marysville, in the same format and for at least the same duration as commercial messages in the rotation. At no time shall a display operate without at least one City-authorized public service announcement available in its rotation.
(G) Relocation agreement and state permits. No permit shall be issued under this subsection (6) until (i) the owner of the Existing SR 70 Displays and the City, and any other affected public entity, have entered into a relocation agreement consistent with California Business and Professions Code Section 5412, and (ii) all permits required by Caltrans under the Outdoor Advertising Act (Business and Professions Code Section 5200 et seq.) have been obtained. Nothing in this subsection (6) relieves any person of the obligation to obtain any permit or approval required by state or federal law. (H) No further expansion. This subsection (6) shall not be construed to amend, relax, or create any exception to the prohibitions of Section 18.64.060 as applied to any sign other than the two displays expressly authorized by this subsection (6).” SECTION 3. CEQA. The City Council finds that the adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Sections 15301 and 15302 (existing facilities; replacement or reconstruction) — as an action that facilitates a transportation safety project and that results in a net reduction of one off-site advertising structure]. City staff is directed to prepare and file a Notice of Exemption. The appropriate CEQA determination for each individual display shall be confirmed before any permit is issued under Section 18.64.093(e)(6).
SECTION 4. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance.
The City Council declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. Urgency Declaration; Effective Date. This Ordinance is adopted as an urgency ordinance for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety within the meaning of Government Code Section 36937(b). The facts constituting the urgency are those set forth in the recitals and in Section 1, which are incorporated herein as the statement of facts constituting the urgency. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by a four-fifths (4/5) vote of the City Council.
SECTION 6. Publication. The City Clerk shall cause this Ordinance, or a summary thereof, to be published and/or posted in the manner required by law.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Marysville at a regular meeting held on the 1
st day of September, 2026, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
________________________________________
Chris Branscum, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________________
Maggie Sanchez, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________________________
Brant Bordsen, City Attorney