Alabama Administrative Code
Title 450 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Chapter 450-10-1 - PROCEDURE AND REQUIREMENTS FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISING
Section 450-10-1-.10 - Selective Vegetation Control To Retain Outdoor Advertising Display Visibility
Universal Citation: AL Admin Code R 450-10-1-.10
Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 02, November 27, 2024
(1) Minor trimming of trees, shrubs, vegetation and other plant life on highway right-of-way for the purpose of retaining visibility of legal, permitted outdoor advertising signs and select non-conforming signs will be allowed under strict compliance with the following conditions:
1. The trimming or cutting must not adversely
affect the aesthetics of the right-of-way.
2. No vegetation shall be trimmed or cut that
is in place as a result of a Federal Air landscape project.
3. All cut vegetation shall be removed from
the highway right-of-way by the applicant.
4. Access to sites adjacent to Interstate and
other controlled access highways must be gained without using the main travel
way of the highway.
5. Trimming or
cutting at legal permitted signs will be allowed only at locations where the
advertising sign installation preceded the obscuring growth. Trimming or
cutting shall not be used to provide visibility where none existed or exists at
a proposed sign location. Only maximum trimming or cutting necessary to retain
the sight distance and visibility that existed at the time of the erection of
the legal permitted advertising sign will be allowed. In no case will trimming
be allowed further than 500 feet in advance of the sign, measured parallel to
the roadway along the nearest edge of pavement.
6. Trimming of vegetation at legal
non-conforming signs will be allowed at signs where it is determined by the
Department that no damage to the natural aesthetics of the roadside will be
incurred. In no case will trimming be allowed further than 3 00 feet in advance
of the sign for legal non-conforming signs before the Highway Beautification
Act of 1972, measured parallel to the roadway along the nearest edge of
pavement. In no case will trimming be allowed further than 500 feet in advance
of the sign for legal non-conforming signs after the Highway Beautification Act
of 1972, measured parallel to the roadway along the nearest edge of
pavement.
7. No trimming will be
allowed within the median areas of divided highways.
8. The applicant will indemnify and save
harmless the Alabama Department of Transportation from any actions resulting
from the applicant's operation or the agent's operation.
9. Applications to trim or cut vegetation on
the right-of-way shall be made by letter to the appropriate Transportation
Department District Manager. The letter must contain detailed, specific
information about the proposed cutting and a clause to satisfy the provision of
Rule No. 8 listed above. The District Manager shall forward the letter along
with his recommendation to the Division Engineer. The Division Engineer will
notify the applicant in writing of his decision relevant to the application. If
the application is approved the applicant shall notify the District Manager at
least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of any trimming or cutting and not
later than forty-eight (48) hours after trimming or cutting is complete. A
separate application will be required for each sign and for each time trimming
or cutting is proposed for a particular sign.
10. Failure of an applicant to adhere to
these stipulations faithfully in any one instance will be grounds to deny
future consideration to that applicant and grounds to revoke the outdoor
advertising sign permit for the site involved.
11. Cutting of vegetation not approved by
ALDOT will be presumed to be done by the sign-owner until proven otherwise.
Such cutting will result in the permit for the sign being revoked and the sign
being removed at the sign-owner's expense. Any clean-up necessary for the
cutting of vegetation not approved by ALDOT will be at the sign-owner's
expense.
12. Poisoning of
vegetation is prohibited. No use of herbicides is allowed.
13. The section in no way precludes any
rights of the sign owner granted under the Alabama Constitution of 1901 and the
State of Alabama.
Author: Maintenance Bureau
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 23-1-59, 23-1-273, 23-1-274, 23-1-275, 23-1-278, 23-1-286.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Alabama may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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