Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
PREFACE
These regulations have been established by the Arkansas Highway
Department as authorized by Arkansas Act 640 of 1967 and Highway Commission
Minute Order No. 72-6 for compliance with Section 131 (d) of Title 23, U.S.C.
to promote the reasonable, orderly, and efficient display of outdoor
advertising while remaining consistent with National and State policies to
protect the public interest in the Interstate and Federal-aid Primary Highways;
to promote the safety and recreational value of public travel; and to preserve
the natural beauty of the State of Arkansas.
ARKANSAS STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
MINUTE ORDER
WHEREAS, Article I of Act 640 of the Acts of the General Assembly
for the year of 1967 directs the Arkansas State Highway Commission to
promulgate rules and regulations governing the erection of outdoor advertising
signs, display and devices along the National System of Interstate and Defense
and Federal Aid Primary Highways within the Arkansas State Highway System;
and
WHEREAS, the Arkansas State Highway Commission and the United
States Secretary of Transportation have entered into an Agreement pursuant to
said Act 640 of 1967 whereby the criteria for the erection of outdoor
advertising signs, displays and devices along the National System of Interstate
and Defense and Federal Aid Primary Highways within the Arkansas State Highway
System have been established;
NOW, THEREFORE, no outdoor advertising signs, displays or devices
shall be erected within 660 feet of any National System of Interstate and
Defense and Federal Aid Primary Highways within the Arkansas State Highway
System except by permit.
The Director of the Arkansas State Highway Department is hereby
authorized to issue permits for the installation of outdoor advertising
structures or devices within 660 feet of the National System of Interstate and
Defense and Federal Aid Primary Highways within the Arkansas State Highway
System in conformity with Act 640 of the Acts of the General Assembly of the
State of Arkansas for the year of 1967 and the Agreement between the Arkansas
State Highway Commission and the United States Secretary of Transportation
dated the 24th day of January, 1972.
The charge for the issuance of permits shall be Forty Dollars
($40.00).
AGREEMENT
FOR CARRYING OUT NATIONAL POLICY RELATIVE TO CONTROL OF OUTDOOR
ADVERTISING IN AREAS ADJACENT TO NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INTERSTATE AND DEFENSE
HIGHWAYS AND THE FEDERAL-AID PRIMARY SYSTEM.
THIS AGREEMENT made and entered Into this 24th day of January,
1972 by and between the Secretary of Transportation acting by and through the
Federal Highway Administrator and the Arkansas Highway Commission, represented
by the Director of the Arkansas Highway Department.
WHEREAS, Congress has declared that outdoor advertising in areas
adjacent to the Interstate and Federal-aid Primary Systems should be controlled
in order to protect the public investment in such highways, to promote the
safety and recreational value of public travel and to preserve natural beauty;
and,
WHEREAS, Section 131 (d) of Title 23, United States Code
authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to enter into agreements with the
several States to determine the size, lighting, and spacing of signs, displays,
and devices, consistent with customary use, which may be erected and maintained
within 660 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way within areas adjacent
to the Interstate and Federal-aid Primary Systems which are zoned industrial or
commercial under authority of State law or in unzoned commercial or industrial
areas, also to be determined by agreement; and.
WHEREAS, by passage of Act No. 640 by the 1967 Arkansas
Legislature, the Arkansas Highway Commission, tinder Section 8 of said Act, has
been authorized to enter into agreement with the Secretary for the purpose of
controlling the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising in areas of the
FAI and FAP Systems in Arkansas and to take action in the name of the State to
comply with such agreement; and,
WHEREAS, the purpose of said agreement is to promote the
reasonable, orderly, and effective display of outdoor advertising while
remaining consistent with the National policy to protect the public investment
in the Interstate and Federal-aid Primary Highways, to promote the safety and
recreational value of public travel and to preserve natural beauty; and,
WHEREAS, the State of Arkansas desires to implement and carry out
the provisions of Section 131 of Title 23, United States Code, and the National
policy in order to remain eligible to receive the full amount of all
Federal-aid highway funds to be apportioned to Arkansas on or after January 1,
1968, under Section 104 of Title 23, United States Code.
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereto do mutually agree to the
following:
I. DEFINITION:
For purposes of making these determinations, the following
definitions apply:
A.
Sign means an outdoor sign, display, device, figure, painting,
drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other thing which is designed,
intended, or used to advertise or inform, any part of the advertising or
informative contents of which is visible from any place on the main traveled
way of the Interstate or Federal-aid Primary Highway.
B.
Traveled way means the
portion of the roadway for the movement of vehicles, exclusive of
shoulders.
C.
Main traveled
way means the through traffic lanes exclusive of frontage roads,
auxiliary lanes, and ramps.
D.
Erect means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place,
affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or
establish a sign but excluding customary maintenance or repair and the
activities incident to the change of advertising messages on established signs
or sign structures.
E.
The
term "Act" means Section 131 of Title 23, United States Code (1965)
commonly referred to as Title I of the Highway Beautification Act of
1965.
F.
Commercial or
industrial activities mean those activities generally recognized as
commercial or industrial by public zoning authorities in Arkansas, except that
none of the following activities shall be considered commercial or industrial:
1. Outdoor advertising structures.
2. Agricultural, forestry, grazing, farming,
and similar activities, including, but not limited to, wayside fresh produce
stands.
3. Transient or temporary
activities.
4. Activities not
visible from the main traveled way.
5. Activities more than 660 feet from the
nearest edge of the right-of-way.
6. Activities conducted in a building
principally used as a residence.
7.
Railroad tracks and minor sidings, except in the area of a permanent facility
for loading and unloading trains.
G.
Zoned commercial or industrial
areas mean those areas which are zoned commercial, or industrial by a
recognized public zoning authority.
H.
Unzoned commercial, business, or
industrial areas means the. land occupied by the regularly used
building, parking lot, and storage or processing area of a commercial,
business, or industrial activity, and that land within 600 feet thereof on both
sides of the highway. The unzoned land shall not include;
1. Land on the opposite side of an interstate
or primary freeway highway from an unzoned commercial, business, or industrial
area, as defined above.
2. Land
predominantly used for residential purposes.
3. Land zoned by state or local law,
regulation, or ordinance.
4. Land
on the opposite side of a non-freeway primary highway which is deemed scenic by
the State Highway Department.
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I.
Municipalities means those incorporated areas defined by an
established city limits.
J.
Auxiliary Lane means that portion of the roadway adjoining the
traveled way for speed change, turning or for other purposes supplementary to
through traffic movement. (Auxiliary lanes shall include, but not be limited
to, acceleration and deceleration lanes, turning lanes and climbing
lanes.)
K.
Ramps
shall mean a turning roadway, not adjoining the traveled way, and connecting
two or more legs of an intersection or interchange and shall be that section
between gores, beginning and ending of auxiliary lanes, and terminal connection
with an intersecting roadway or combination thereof.
L.
Freeway means a divided
arterial highway for through traffic with full control of access.
II
SCOPE OF
AGREEMENT
This agreement shall cover the determination of standards and
criteria for size, lighting, and spacing of signs permitted in zoned or unzoned
commercial and industrial areas, and the established definition of unzoned
industrial and commercial areas for the effective control of the erection and
maintenance, along the Interstate System and the FAP System in the State of
Arkansas, of outdoor advertising signs which are within 660 feet of the nearest
edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of the systems;
and,
Those determinations set forth in this agreement have been
established with consideration to the customary use in the outdoor advertising
industry in Arkansas and are no more restrictive than that required by Title
23, United States Code and do not apply to (a) on premise advertising, official
and directional signs, identification markers as permitted under Section 131
(c) of Title 23, United States Code and Subsections 5 c, d, and e of the
Arkansas Act 640; (b) all outdoor advertising signs legally erected and
maintained, in zoned and unzoned commercial and industrial areas established by
this agreement, on FAP and FAI Highways prior to the date of enactment of this
agreement; (c) outdoor advertising signs legally erected and maintained in
zoned or unzoned commercial and industrial areas established by this agreement
on highways which become a part of the FAP and FAI System after the date of
this agreement.
III.
DETERMINATION OF SIGN STANDARDS AND CRITERIA FOR CONTROL OF OUTDOOR
ADVERTISING:
A.
General The following signs shall not be permitted:
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1. Signs
which imitate or resemble any official traffic sign, signal, or
device.
2. Signs which are erected
or maintained upon trees or painted or drawn upon rocks or other natural
features.
3. Signs which are
structurally unsafe or in disrepair.
B.
Size of Signs
1. A sign structure may consist of two
facings so long as only one facing is visible from the approaching traveled
way.
2. A sign structure may
contain one or two signs per facing and not more than four signs per
structure.
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3. The
maximum area of a single sign on one facing shall be 1,200 square feet and a
maximum length of 60 feet and maximum height of 25 feet inclusive of any border
and trim but excluding ornamental base or apron supports and other structural
members.
4. When two signs are
placed on one facing, the maximum area per each sign will be 550 square feet
with a maximum combined length of 70 feet and a maximum combined height of 35
feet inclusive of any border and trim but excluding ornamental base or apron
supports and other structural members.
5. The length will be measured at the maximum
horizontal span including cutouts and trim and will include the space between
signs when two signs are placed on one facing-
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6. The height
shall be measured from the lowest and highest points including cutouts and trim
on the sign or two signs, regardless of the facing on which they are located,
and shall include the space between signs when one sign is placed over another
sign on one facing.
C.
Spacing of Signs1.
Interstate and primary highways:
(a) Signs may
not be located in such a manner as to obscure, or otherwise interfere with, the
effectiveness of an official traffic sign, signal, or device, or obstruct or
interfere with the driver's view of approaching, merging, or intersecting
traffic.
2. Interstate
Highways and Freeways on the Federal-aid Primary System:
(a) No two structures shall be spaced less
than 500 feet apart.
(b) In areas
outside municipalities, no structure may be located within the area immediately
adjacent to an interchange, an auxiliary lane or ramp, and within 500 feet from
the beginning or ending of the pavement widening at the exit from or entrance
to the main traveled way.
3. Non-Freeway Federal-aid Primary Routes:
(a) Outside of Municipalities - no two
structures shall be spaced less than 300 feet apart.
(b) Inside Municipalities - no two structures
shall be spaced less than 100 feet apart.
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4.
These minimum spacings do not apply to sign structures separated by buildings
or other obstructions in such a manner that only one sign structure is visible
from the highway at any one time.
5. Explanatory Notes:
(a) Alleys, undeveloped rights-of-way,
private roads and driveways shall not be regarded as intersecting streets,
roads or highways.
(b) Only roads,
streets and highways which enter directly into the main traveled way of the
primary highway shall be regarded as intersecting.
(c) Official and "on premise" signs, as
defined in Section 131 (t) of Title 23, United States Code, and subsections 5
c, d, and e of the Arkansas Act shall not be counted nor shall measurements be
made from them for purposes of determining compliance with these sign spacing
requirements.
(d) Outdoor
advertising signs legally erected prior to the date of enactment of this
agreement will be counted and measurements made from them for purposes of
determining the spacing of signs erected after the date of enactment of this
agreement.
(e) The minimum distance
between signs shall be measured along the nearest edge of the pavement between
points directly opposite the signs and each side of the highway will be
considered separately.
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(e) The
minimum distance between signs shall be measured along the nearest edge of the
pavement between points directly opposite the signs and each side of the
highway will be considered separately.
D.
Lighting Signs may be
illuminated, subject to the following restrictions:
1. Signs which contain, include, or are
illuminated by any flashing, intermittent, or moving light or lights are
prohibited, except those giving public service information such as time, date,
temperature, weather, or similar information.
2. Signs which are not effectively shielded
as to prevent beams or rays of light from being directed at any portion of the
traveled ways of the Interstate or Primary highways and which are of such
intensity or brilliance as to cause glare or to impair the vision of the driver
of any motor vehicle, or which otherwise interferes with any driver's operation
of a motor vehicle are prohibited.
3. No sign shall be so illuminated that it
interferes with the effectiveness of, or obscures an official traffic sign,
device, or signal.
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E.
Zoning Authority
The State of Arkansas and local political subdivisions shall have
full authority under their own zoning laws to zone areas for commercial or
industrial purposes and the action of the State and local political
subdivisions in this regard will be accepted for the purposes of this
agreement. At any time that a political subdivision adopts comprehensive zoning
which includes the regulating of the size, lighting, and spacing of outdoor
advertising signs within the zoned commercial and industrial areas consistent
with the purposes of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 and with customary
use the Arkansas Highway Commission may certify to the Administrator as notice
of effective control of signs within the zoned area.
IV.
STATE
CONTROL
The Arkansas Highway Commission hereby agrees that in accordance
with the scope of this agreement,, the Commission shall effectively control, or
cause to be controlled, the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising
signs.
V.
CONDITIONS
A. It is further agreed that
these determinations are based on the contents and requirements of the Highway
Beautification Act of 1965 as it exists on this date and that any amendment or
interpretation of said Act modifying the requirements for the States will
automatically provide the Arkansas State Highway Commission the option of
revising this agreement to reflect the latest revisions or
interpretations.
B. It is hereby
agreed that the State will not be required to remove any tourist-oriented sign,
display or device until the Highway Beautification Commission submits its
report and recommendation to the Congress of the United States.
C. It is mutually understood that no sign,
display, or device will be required to be removed under this agreement if the
Federal share of the just compensation to be paid upon removal of such sign,
display, or device is not available to make such payment.
VI. EFFECTIVE DATE
This agreement shall become effective on the date that it is
approved by the Federal Highway Administrator.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have caused this agreement
to be duly executed as of the date specified.
January 14, 1972
ARKANSAS STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION
By Isl Ward Goodman
Director of Highways
Arkansas State Highway Department
January 24, 1972
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
By /s/ Francis B. Truner
Federal Highway Administrator
HOW TO OBTAIN PERMIT
Permit application may be obtained from any Highway Department
Office or from the Enviromental Development Section, Arkansas Highway
Department, P.O. Box 2261, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203.
Completed applications for signs in legal zones should be
submitted to the Enviromental Development Section, P.O. Box 2261, Little Rock,
Arkansas, 72203.
Applications must include a $40 fee for each sign (check or money
order, no cash).
Upon application for a permit, the sign owner must arrange with
the State Inspector to show the exact location for the proposed device. This
may be accomplished by either an on-site visit by the sign owner's
representative or by an easily visible stake or marker.
Information will be reviewed and a permit will be issued for
signs that comply with all regulations.
If signs do not comply, fees will be returned with a brief
explanation concerning the reason for permit refusal.
After 30 days from issuance of permit, the state's Inspector will
review the device and if It complies with all regulations, affix a permit decal
to the structure,
Signs without decal are not valid.
Permits will expire on December 31 of odd number years (1973 1975
1977, etc.). Renewal applications must be applied for within 30 days of these
dates.
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REVISED REGULATIONS FOR ISSUANCE OF PERMITS FOR OUTDOOR
ADVERTISING DEVICES AND SIGNS
SECTION
1. As used in these regulations the term:
A.
"Outdoor advertising
device" means any outdoor sign, display, figures, painting, drawing,
message, plaque, poster, billboard, or other thing, hereinafter referred to as
"device", which is designated, intended, or used to advertise, any part of the
advertising of which is visible from any place on the main traveled way of the
Interstate, or Primary Highways.
B.
"Sign" means an outdoor display, device, figure, painting,
drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other thing which is
designated, intended, or used to advertise or inform, any part of the
advertising or informative contents of which is visible from any place on the
main traveled way of the Interstate or Federal-aid Primary Highway.
C.
'Agreement" means, the
agreement between the Arkansas State Highway Commission and the United States
Secretary of Transportation executed on January 24, 1972, pursuant to Article I
of Act 640 of the Acts of the 1967 Arkansas General Assembly, which agreement
established standards and criteria for size, lighting, and spacing of signs
permitted in zoned or unzoned commercial and industrial areas within 660 feet
of Interstate or Primary Highways in Arkansas: and which defined unzoned and
commercial and industrial areas.
D.
"Manual" means the pamphlet published by the Arkansas State
Highway Commission setting out and exemplifying the requirements of the
Agreement, entitled Regulations for Control of Outdoor Advertising, authorized
by Commission Minute Order 72-6, dated January 26, 1972.
E.
"Conforming outdoor advertising
device" means a device which is in conformity with the requirements of
the Act 640.
F.
"Nonconforming outdoor advertising device" means a device
which does not conform to the requirements of the Act 640.
G.
"Illegal outdoor advertising
device" means a device erected and/or maintained in violation of the
law.
H.
"Erect"
means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create,
paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish a device or sign
or sign structure as defined, by the Agreement, but excluding customary
maintenance or repair and the activities incident to the change of advertising
messages on established devices or sign structures.
I.
"Customary maintenance or
repair" The following activities are considered to fall within the
meaning of customary maintenance or repair and copy change:
(1) The routine replacing of border and trim
as well as repair of structural members and replacing of structural members
destroyed by an outside force other than normal deterioration. Re-erection of a
device rendered unfunctional within the definition of "device" herein is
specifically prohibited as customary maintenance except as provided in the last
paragraph of Section 3 herein. The raising or lowering of the height of a sign
structure as a result of any repair is specifically prohibited.
(2) Slight temporary alterations of some of
the outside dimensions of painted bulletin boards incidental to copy change,
which do not substantially increase the overall dimensions of the advertising
copy portion of the device.
(3) Any
net decrease in the outside dimensions of the advertising copy portion of the
device will be permitted. Any subsequent change in the outside dimensions of
the panel will be permitted so long as it does not exceed the actual dimensions
State and owner records indicate existed when the device was permitted. In no
case, however, will legal size limitations be exceeded.
(4) The placing of night time illumination on
existing sign structures is specifically prohibited as customary maintenance,
except in such cases where the sign owner will sign a waiver of any future
compensation as applies to illumination; however, such illumination may be
-permanently removed from such sign structure.
J.
"Compretiensive zoning"
means a zoning plan established by State or local law, regulation or ordinance,
which includes regulations consistent with customary use and the provisions of
the agreement controlling the erection and maintenance of signs in the zoned
areas. Except that, any area determined by the Department to be included in the
area of such a zoning plan solely for the purpose of allowing outdoor
advertising does not come within this definition.
K.
"National Standards"
means those standards promulgated by the Secretary of Transportation and
published in 23 CFR 21 setting standards for regulation of State of Directional
and other Official Signs adjacent to the National System of Interstate and
Defense Highways.
L.
"Tri-Vision sign" means a single face sign having a series of
three-sided, vertical slats arranged side by side which are rotated in the same
direction, simultaneously, by an electric-mechanical process displaying a total
of three separate and distinct messages, one message at a time. Tri-Vision
signs are to approved by permit prior to installation and are subject to the
following:
(1) The slat twirl time shall be
two (2) seconds or less.
(2) The
slat dwell time shall be eight (8) seconds or more.
(3) Tri-Vision signs shall contain a default
design that will freeze the sign in one position if a malfunction
occurs.
(4) Tri-Vision signs shall
comply with all other requirements of Federal and State Highway Beautification
laws and regulations.
SECTION 2.
On or after October 1, 1972, any existing device within 660 feet
of the nearest right of way limit of any Interstate or Primary highway must
have a permit issued by the Arkansas State Highway Department evidenced by a
permit marker affixed to a post or member supporting the device. Permits shall
not be required for signs exempt under Par. 6 of these regulations.
SECTION 3. Permits shall be issued
in two classes, as follows:
Class A Permits valid for 2 years for conforming devices and for
any alternation thereof which is not customary maintenance. Class A Permits are
granted upon condition that the permitted device will be removed at the owner's
expense should its location either now or at any future date violate any
provisions of Act 640 of the General Assembly of Arkansas for the year 1967, or
rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. Nothing in this regulation
is intended to require the removal of signs at the owner's expense for which
Act 640 of 1967 provides that just compensation be paid.
Class B Permits for the maintenance of existing nonconforming
devices until they are required to be removed under the provisions of Article
1, Section 7, or Act 640 of 1967, are valid for 2 years or the time of removal,
whichever comes first. Issuance of a permit for an existing nonconforming
device shall not be considered to be a determination of the eligibility and
entitlement, or non-eligibility of the device for compensation if the device is
later required by law to be removed.
Devices for which a permit has been issued are subject to
customary maintenance or repair as defined herein, but re-erection of a device
rendered unfunctional is specifically, prohibited on any nonconforming device
erected after the effective date of Act 640. New permits will be issued to
re-erect conforming devices rendered unfunctional and to re-erect those
nonconforming devices rendered unfunctional which were erected prior to the
effective date of the Act, or those in existence along secondary highways added
to the primary system.
