Oklahoma Administrative Code
Title 730 - Department of Transportation
Chapter 35 - Maintenance and Control of State Highway System
Subchapter 5 - Highway Advertising Control
Section 730:35-5-12 - Class "A" signs
Universal Citation: OK Admin Code 730:35-5-12
Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a) Site requirements. Class "A" permitted signs must be located in a commercial or industrial area as defined in 730:35-5-3.
(1)
Zoning Qualifications.
(A) Property upon which signs are to be
erected within the control area must be zoned comprehensively for business,
commercial or industrial activities under the authority of any state zoning
law, or city or county zoning ordinance of this state, but shall not include
areas which reflect strip or spot zoning granted strictly for the purpose of
outdoor advertising.
(B) To
determine whether a zoning action, past or present, is an attempt to circumvent
outdoor advertising law or regulations, the following factors shall be taken
into consideration:
(i) expressed reason for
zoning
(ii) zoning for the
surrounding area
(iii) actual land
use
(iv) existence of plans for
commercial or industrial development
(v) proper access to property
(vi) availability of utilities (water,
electricity, sewage) in the newly zoned area, and
(vii) whether or not the property is being
assessed in accordance with zoning.
(C) Failure to meet zoning qualifications
based on the factors set forth in this subsection is grounds for permit denial.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide support documentation if
zoning is determined to be questionable. Questionable zoning would include
areas which have no visible indications of development, are separated from the
primary urban area under which authority they are zoned and areas which are
being primarily used for agricultural, ranching or residential
purposes.
(2)
Commercial or Industrial Activity Requirements. Property upon
which signs are to be erected must be unzoned but the sign is to be located
within six hundred (600) feet of a qualifying commercial or industrial
activity. The considerations are as follows:
(A) Such an activity shall be equipped with
all customary utilities, facilities and open to the public regularly or
regularly used by the employees of the business as their principal work station
or which due to the nature of the business is equipped, staffed, and accessible
to the public as is customary. The activity must be clearly identified and
recognized as a business from the main-traveled way. The majority of the
business activity must be conducted on the premises during normal business
hours. Permit applicant may be required to provide sufficient documentation to
demonstrate the status of the activity as a qualifying commercial or industrial
business.
(B) It includes the area
along the highway extending outward six hundred (600) feet from and beyond the
edge of the regularly used area of said activity in each direction and a
corresponding zone directly across a primary highway which is not also a
limited or controlled access highway. All measurements shall be made from the
edge of the regularly used building, parking lots, storage or processing areas
of the commercial or industrial activity, not from the property lines of the
activity and shall be along or parallel to the edge of the pavement of the
highway. Provided however, the unzoned area shall not include land on the
opposite side of an interstate or dual-laned limited access primary highway
from the commercial or industrial activity establishing the unzoned commercial
or industrial area.
(C) None of the
following, but not limited to the following, shall be considered commercial or
industrial activities for the purpose of outdoor advertising:
(i) outdoor advertising structures
(ii) agricultural, forestry, ranching,
grazing, farming, and related activities, including but not limited to wayside
fresh produce stands
(iii)
transient or temporary businesses and activities
(iv) activities more than six hundred sixty
(660) feet from the nearest edge of the right-of-way
(v) activities conducted in a building
principally used as a residence
(vi) local, county, state or federal
governmental offices or entities
(vii) recreational activities which are
designed to present park-like or pastoral aesthetic features to the travelling
public. (Including but not limited to golf course greens and fairways, hunting
club acreages, or other such type activities.)
(b) Spacing.
(1)
Interstates and Controlled Access
Primary Highways.
(A) No two (2)
registered sign structures which are visible from the highway at any one time
shall be spaced less than one thousand (1,000) feet apart on the same side of
the highway.
(B) Outside
incorporated municipalities, no structure shall be located within five hundred
(500) feet of an interchange/ramp, intersection, intersection at grade, or rest
area (measured along the interstate or freeway from the sign to the nearest
point of the beginning or ending of the pavement widening at the exit or
entrance to the main-traveled way).
(2)
Primary Highway System
(non-controlled access).
(A) Inside the
limits of an incorporated municipality, no two (2) registered sign structures
shall be spaced less than one hundred (100) feet apart on the opposite side of
the highway and three hundred (300) feet on the same side of the
highway.
(B) Outside the limits of
an incorporated municipality, no two (2) registered sign structures shall be
spaced less than three hundred (300) feet apart.
(C) Such spacing applies unless the signs are
separated by a building or other obstruction in such a manner that only one
display is visible from the highway at any one time from either lane of
traffic.
(3)
Explanatory notes.
(A)
Directional, official, and exempt signs as herein defined, shall not be counted
nor shall measurements be made from them for the purpose of determining
compliance with spacing requirements.
(B) The minimum distance between signs shall
be measured along the nearest edge of the pavement between points directly
opposite the signs along each side of the highway. Distances shall be measured
utilizing the points of signs or staked locations nearest the
highway.
(4)
Disqualifiers.
(A) Signs shall
not be located within five hundred (500) feet of any of the following which are
adjacent to any interstate (on the same side of the highway) or federal-aid
primary highway:
(i) public park
(ii) public forest
(iii) playground
(iv) cemetery
(B) Signs in unzoned commercial or industrial
areas shall not be located within five hundred (500) feet of the following
which are adjacent to any interstate (on the same side of the highway) or
federal-aid primary highway:
(i)
church
(ii) school
(iii) historical battlefield
(iv) rest area
(C) Signs in unzoned commercial or industrial
areas shall not be located within three hundred (300) feet of any residence
without a written consent.
(5) For the purpose of providing a method and
opportunity to minimize the cost of acquiring legally erected outdoor
advertising signs to be taken when the state purchases land under eminent
domain, the Director of the Department shall have the option to approve the
issuance of permits for outdoor advertising signs visible from interstate and
freeway primary facilities which are to be erected less than one thousand
(1,000) feet from another such sign. Permits issued pursuant to this option
shall be only for the purpose of providing a relocation site for a sign being
taken by the state, and in no case shall such permits allow an outdoor
advertising sign to be erected less than the distance provided for in this
title from another such sign. Provided, when the Department issues a permit
pursuant to this subsection to accommodate the relocation of a structure:
(A) If the structure to be removed is visible
from an interstate highway inside an incorporated area, the relocation site
shall be inside the same incorporated area and shall be visible from an
interstate highway.
(B) If the
structure to be removed is visible from a freeway primary highway inside an
incorporated area, the relocation site shall be inside the same incorporated
area and shall be visible from a freeway primary highway or an interstate
highway.
(C) If there are not
suitable relocation sites meeting the provisions of subparagraph A of this
paragraph and the structure to be removed is visible from an interstate highway
inside an incorporated area, notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph A
of this paragraph, the Department may issue a permit for a relocation site
outside of the incorporated area which shall be visible from an interstate
highway, and
(D) If there are no
suitable relocation sites meeting the provisions of subparagraph B of this
paragraph and the structure to be removed is visible from a freeway primary
highway inside an incorporated area, notwithstanding the provisions of
subparagraph B of this paragraph, the Department may issue a permit for a
relocation site outside of the incorporated area which shall be visible from a
freeway primary highway or an interstate highway.
(E) Provided further, the square footage of
display face on the relocated sign shall not exceed the square footage of
display face of the taken sign. The Transportation Commission shall have the
authority to promulgate rules necessary to implement the use of the permit
option provided for in this subsection and to request the cooperation of
municipalities where local permits are required.
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Department shall, after determining the need to acquire property upon
which outdoor advertising structures are located, have the authority to
negotiate directly with the owner of the outdoor advertising structure the
terms for maintaining such structures in their current position or for the
relocation of such structures. Such negotiations may begin prior to the
Department's initiation of formal condemnation proceedings and shall be
completed within six (6) months or at the time of the court-appointed
appraiser's report, whichever occurs first. The owner of the outdoor
advertising structure shall initiate such negotiations by written request to
the Department, provided such request shall include proof of sole ownership of
the structure. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the owner
of the land from pursuing a claim of interest in any lease existing between the
landowner and the outdoor advertising structure owner, or to prevent the
outdoor advertising structure owner from pursuing a claim for fair market value
of the owner's interest if negotiations with the Department for a lease or
structure relocation arrangement are not successful.
(c) Lighting. Signs may be illuminated, subject to the following restrictions:
(1) Signs which contain, include, have
attached or are illuminated by any flashing, intermittent or moving light, or
lights which involve moving parts are prohibited, except on-premise signs and
those giving public service information, such as, but not limited to, time,
date, temperature, weather, news, 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 way of any interstate or primary highway and are of such intensity or
brilliance as to cause glare or impair 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 any official traffic sign, device or signal, or imitates or may be
confused with any such official traffic sign, device or signal.
(4) A non-conforming (grandfathered) sign
cannot have lighting added after it has become non-conforming.
(5) Signs which include the steady
illumination of sign faces, panels or stats that rotate to different messages
in a fixed position, commonly known as tri-vision faces or multiple message
signs are allowed; provided, the rotation of one (1) sign face to another is no
more frequent than every eight (8) seconds and the actual rotation process is
accomplished in four (4) seconds or less. Some LED type displays may be used
under these guidelines, however moving or flashing lights are strictly
prohibited. Change from one panel to another must be accomplished with static
displays only. Scrolling or fading from one display to the next is not
allowed.
(6) Approval to upgrade an
existing Class A registered sign to allow Tri-Vision or LED technology to a
registered sign not already designated with such use must be obtained from the
Outdoor Advertising Control Branch prior to actual changes being made. Request
for approval must be submitted in writing, listing the Registration Number,
type of technology intended and a document confirming current land use
consent.
(d) Size.
(1) The maximum area for
any one sign shall be one thousand two hundred (1,200) square feet including
border and trim, but not including the base or apron, supports and other
structural members. If an advertising message appears on the base or apron, it
must be included as part of maximum allowable area. The sign may not be more
than twenty-five (25) feet in height or sixty (60) feet in length.
(2) The area shall be measured by the
smallest square, rectangle, triangle, circle, or combination thereof which will
encompass the entire sign, including any cutouts or extensions.
(3) The maximum size limitations shall apply
to each side (facing) of a sign structure. Two (2) signs not exceeding six
hundred (600) square feet each may be erected in a facing, "side by side" or
"double decked" (stacked.) "Back to back" and "V-type" signs will be permitted
and shall be treated as one structure with one thousand two hundred (1,200)
square feet permitted for each facing. "V-type" signs shall not exceed thirty
(30) feet between faces at the widest point. "Tri-face" signs are
prohibited.
Added at 17 Ok Reg 1384, eff 5-11-00; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1703, eff 7-1-09
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Oklahoma 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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