The Constitutional Tribunal addressed the provisions obliging municipalities to remove billboards and advertising devices

The issue in question is precisely Article 37a(9) of the Act of 27 March 2003 on spatial planning and development to the extent in which it provides for the obligation to determine, in the resolution referred to in Article 37a(1) of that Act, the conditions and time limit for adjustment of the existing on the date of its entry into force, erected on the basis of a building permit, billboards and advertising devices (advertising objects) to the prohibitions set out in that resolution, without providing statutory grounds and the procedure for claiming compensation by the entities obliged to remove them. In the opinion of the TK, these provisions violate Article 21 in conjunction with Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

The quoted provision allows for the imposition, by way of a landscape resolution, of an obligation to adjust (and thus also remove) already existing advertising objects that were erected before the resolution came into force, despite the fact that they were erected on the basis of a building permit – and thus in a legal manner. The effect of such action is to harm the property rights of owners of signs and media erected before the resolution came into force, on the basis of valid building permits. This is because the owners are forced to remove the signs and media covered by the resolution, at their own expense and without providing compensation. This means that their property rights have been restricted, as they cannot use their property to the extent covered by the content of the landscape resolution and, in addition, they are forced to annihilate an object that is part of their property. The legislation provides neither exceptions nor a compensation mechanism for this.