Under state law, would an amortization ordinance that starts at the date of billboard prohibition be legal?

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Multiple Choice

Under state law, would an amortization ordinance that starts at the date of billboard prohibition be legal?

Amortizing a nonconforming billboard must fit the time limits set by state law. For billboards, there’s typically a two-year window in which a nonconforming use can continue after a prohibition or zoning change. The timing of when that window starts is crucial: the clock is tied to when the use becomes nonconforming, and the allowed wind-down period must run within that statutory limit. Starting the amortization at the date the billboard prohibition takes effect effectively misaligns that window with the statutory two-year cap. It would force cessation within two years from prohibition, but the law requires the nonconforming period to run from the moment the use becomes nonconforming (or to be kept within the defined two-year limit in its proper frame). Because this timing would violate the permitted duration, the ordinance would be illegal. Other reasons sometimes offered—such as broad permission for amortization, or a claim that preemption or prohibition makes amortization moot—do not override the state-imposed two-year nonconforming period. Thus, the two-year constraint makes starting amortization at prohibition invalid.

Amortizing a nonconforming billboard must fit the time limits set by state law. For billboards, there’s typically a two-year window in which a nonconforming use can continue after a prohibition or zoning change. The timing of when that window starts is crucial: the clock is tied to when the use becomes nonconforming, and the allowed wind-down period must run within that statutory limit.

Starting the amortization at the date the billboard prohibition takes effect effectively misaligns that window with the statutory two-year cap. It would force cessation within two years from prohibition, but the law requires the nonconforming period to run from the moment the use becomes nonconforming (or to be kept within the defined two-year limit in its proper frame). Because this timing would violate the permitted duration, the ordinance would be illegal.

Other reasons sometimes offered—such as broad permission for amortization, or a claim that preemption or prohibition makes amortization moot—do not override the state-imposed two-year nonconforming period. Thus, the two-year constraint makes starting amortization at prohibition invalid.

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