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I'm involved in the evaluation of a property that is along an interstate highway with a portion of the property being designated as a "Cotton Zone". I'm having significant difficulty in finding sales and data for this specialized property designation. If anyone can direct me to someone that my have comps and/or experience with a Cotton Zone, or to a web site that may have some case law, I would appreciate the help. Also, if anyone has performed a similar appraisal, I would appreciate anything golden nuggets your willing to share.

Although I have not heard of the term "Cotton Zone", I assume you are speaking of an outdoor advertasing sign. This is a special use property, or in your case, it may be a portion of. If the underlying land is owned by the advertising company, the "cost approach" is most likely the best indicator of value. If the underlying land is being leased to an advertising company, the income approach may also be utilized as an indication of value. The advertising company should be able to provide comparable rentals as a lessee on comparable properties.
However, the sales (market) approach would be difficult to perform, as sales data on this kind of property is hard to get.

I do not know of any specific case law on this subject, however, I have been told that this is a contraversal issue in the courts, throughout the U.S.

Hope this helps.

Rick, A Cotton Zone is a specialized area that was made and exception for approval of outdoor advertising along and interstate highway, after the Beautification Act was passed that made outdoor billboards illegal along interstate highways. There are a lot of circumstances that have to be exactly correct for the area to be classified / entitled a "Cotton Zone". I've been involved with billboard signs and their evaluation and understand those concepts. I'm searching here to seek information specialized to comps and data associated with a Cotton Zone. Thanks for your help and reply.

I apologize for the previous comments. I didn’t quite understand the issue. I did find it interesting, though. After looking into it, I found a few websites you may find somewhat helpful in your analysis.

http://www.oaaa.org/government/Issues/issue.asp?id=40
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejourna ... 307_6.html
http://www.ewg.org/reports/billboards

Thanks again for your your help. The ewg report is very interesting. The bill board people seem to have the exact opposite opinion when you listen to them talk about the difficulty that they have with permits. Guess that's why we appraisers are neutral. Blessings...ray

Take a look at the book by Dwain Stoops, The Valuation of Billboards (2006), published by Appraisal Institute. Dwain has some great insights on billboard site values and has some very practical tips on separating income between business and real estate.