"I expect the owners of most billboards to remove their banners as the law orders them. If they do not, we will call them out to remove them, or we will cover them afterwards and then we will take them away at the expense of the owner. Removing advertising banners may take months to disappear completely, " says Transport Minister Dan Ťok.
Attempts at the last minute to reverse the text of the Road Act are considered by the Minister of Transport to be a smile. "On the motorways, one of the owners has now voluntarily signed up to the billboards, stamped them with a national flag, and can help to identify more quickly which of the banners should also be removed. The laws are valid for all and for billboard companies. When they respect the symbols, they should respect the law. We will definitely follow it, " commented Transport Minister Ťok.
Similarly, according to the Minister, the timing of the constitutional complaint of a group of senators in this matter is striking. "Four days before the deadline expires, reporting a constitutional complaint seems to me to be the last attempt to reverse the fulfillment of the law. Why did they not file the complaint three or five years ago when they knew it was unconstitutional? " Said Ťok.
Questions and Answers on Removing Billboards
How will removal of billboards run around the motorways from September 2017?
Advertisers knew five years ahead to remove billboards on 1 September 2017. So they had a long time to prepare themselves to remove the billboard and have to do it themselves. If, however, the requirements of the law are ignored, the appropriate road administration (at MD motorways) will invite the owner of the billboard to dispose of it without delay (according to the Road Act within five days). If it fails to remedy it, the relevant Road Administration will hide the advertisement within 15 days and then dispose of it. The cost of the billboard owner. If the advertiser can not be identified, the owner of the property on which the ad unit was placed will bear these costs.
The owner of the property on which the advertising device is unauthorized is obliged to allow access to its property in order to cover the advertising and subsequent disposal of the advertising equipment.
How long will the billboard removal process take?
These are about 1000 billboards on motorways and hundreds of high-class roads. Permits have been issued by the authorities since the 1990s, often in bulk for more billboards. Everyone needs to check whether they are still in operation, who owns, etc.
Companies have often changed owners or have their headquarters outside the Czech Republic. On the 1st class road, the authorities also issued permission. All operators need to address challenges. Billboards will then disappear over the next few months.
Which billboards should specifically disappear (rules, distances)?
The obligation to remove the billboard applies to advertising facilities on highways and highway I outside the continuously built area of municipalities.
Generally, all billboards that are in the roadside protection zone will disappear. The boundary of the motorway protection zone, as defined in Section 30 (2) (A) of the Roads Act, it is moved from 100 meters to 250 meters in case of permitting the establishment and operation of advertising equipment that would be visible to the users of the road concerned. For Class I roads, the roadside protection zone is 50 m from the road axis or the adjacent 1st class road lane.
The ban on the bridges also disappears. This is in the motorway highway
How many billboards should disappear?
It's still more than a thousand billboards on motorways, with hundreds of billboards remaining on State Class I roads.
Some billboards have already been removed because, since 2012, RMD has been monitoring where fixed-term billboards have been and these contracts are no longer prolonging. For operators with an open-ended license, the deadline is September 1.
What are the sanctions if they do not disappear?
The main sanction is that the billboard must be removed at the expense of its operator. A law passed five years ago does not specify a specific fine for not removing the billboard.
Who will be the billboards?
The advertisers themselves should dispose of them; If they fail to do so, RMD has the possibility to remove the billboard itself, but it will be at the expense of the operator, if not known, at the expense of the landlord.
Source: tz Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic
Photo to tz: MD