(a)
(1)The annual permit fee for each advertising display shall be set by the director.
(2)
The fee shall not exceed the amount reasonably necessary to recover the cost of providing the service or enforcing the regulations for which the fee is charged, but in no event shall the fee exceed one hundred dollars ($100). This maximum fee shall be increased in the 2007–08 fiscal year and in the 2012–13 fiscal year by an amount equal to the increase in the California Consumer Price Index.
(3)
The fee may reflect the department’s average cost, including the indirect costs, of providing the service or enforcing the regulations.
(b)
If a display is placed or maintained without a valid, unrevoked, and unexpired permit, the following penalties shall be assessed:
(1)
If the advertising display is placed or maintained in a location that conforms to the provisions of this chapter, a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) shall be assessed.
(2)
If the advertising display is placed or maintained in a location that does not conform to the provisions of this chapter or local ordinances, and is not removed within thirty days of written notice from the department or the city or the county with land use jurisdiction over the property upon which the advertising display is located, a penalty of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) plus one hundred dollars ($100) for each day the advertising display is placed or maintained after the department sends written notice shall be assessed.
(c)
In addition to the penalties set forth in subdivision (b), the gross revenues from the unauthorized advertising display that are received by, or owed to, the applicant and a person working in concert with the applicant shall be disgorged.
(d)
The department or a city or a county within the location upon which the advertising is located may enforce the provisions of this section.
(e)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if an action results in the successful enforcement of this section, the department may request the court to award the department its enforcement costs, including, but not limited to, its reasonable attorneys’ fees for pursuing the action.
(f)
It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to strengthen the ability of local governments to enforce zoning ordinances governing advertising displays.