Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 6, March 26, 2024
A. Customary maintenance of non-conforming
signs may only include the following:
(1)
changing existing non-structural external light fixtures for energy
efficiency;
(2) replacing
structural components with the same materials consistent with this rule,
including replacement of poles, but only if not more than 1/2 of the total
number of poles of the sign are replaced in any twelve (12) month period and
the same material is used for the replacement poles;
(3) nailing, cleaning and painting, and
replacement of nuts and bolts;
(4)
changes in the advertisement; and
(5) plumbing or leveling the
structure.
B. Customary
maintenance of non-conforming signs shall not include the following:
(1) any increase in the size of the sign from
the date of its non-conformance, or increasing the size or dimension of the
sign face, or adding a face;
(2)
any structural change resulting in an increase in the sign's value; any such
increase in value shall be deemed non-compensable should the sign be acquired
by the department through the condemnation process;
(3) adding CEVMS or other changeable message
capability, except that gas price, lottery and other add-ons utilizing
changeable message technology may be allowed where the use of that technology
would not result in a change to the physical structure of the outdoor
advertising device, such as the addition of electrical or other power,
including solar power, guy wires and bracing where the structure did not have
such features at the time of its non-conformance, and where the gas price,
lottery and other add-ons are included within the structure's copy;
(4) adding lighting, attached or unattached,
to a sign that previously did not have lights;
(5) adding bracing, guy wires or other
reinforcing devices;
(6) changing
the vertical support materials, such as replacing wooden supports with metal,
or replacing I-beams with a monopole;
(7) changing the configuration of the sign
structure, such as changing a "V" sign to a stacked or back-to-back sign, or a
single-face sign to a double face or back-to-back sign;
(8) merging or consolidating multiple faces
into a single face, whether on the same or separate outdoor advertising
devices; and
(9) except at the
request of a governmental authority, removing and erecting the structure, or
changing the physical location of the sign or the direction of the sign
face.
C. A
non-conforming sign destroyed by natural causes, such as, but not limited to,
wear and tear, deterioration and weather, may not be reconstructed and its
permit shall be revoked. Reconstruction shall render the sign a new structure
and result in revocation of its permit and the sign shall be deemed illegal and
non-compensable and subject to removal by the department at the expense of the
sign owner pursuant to the provisions of 18.21.5.33 NMAC.
D. Non-conforming signs which have been
destroyed due to vandalism and other criminal or tortious acts may be
re-erected in kind.
E. For purposes
of this section, "destroyed" means completely down, or where more than 50% of
the upright supports of a sign structure are physically damaged such that
normal repair practices of the industry would, in the case of wooden sign
structures, require replacement of the broken supports, and, in the case of
metal sign structures, require replacement of at least 25% of the length above
ground of each broken, bent or twisted support.
