Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
A. All signs subject to the Act must be
structurally safe and maintained in a good state of repair which includes but
is not limited to the following:
(1) The sign
face must be maintained free of peeling, chipping, rusting, wearing and fading
so as to be fully legible at all times.
(2) All parts of the sign, including the
cutouts, extensions, border, trim, and sign structure must be maintained in a
safe manner, free from rusting, rotting, breaking and other
deterioration.
(3) The sign face
must not have any vegetation growing upon it or touching or clinging to
it.
B. Any sign which
does not conform to the maintenance standards in 63-350(A) or which is
abandoned is illegal. A notice will be given by certified mail to the sign
owner and landowner to repair any sign which does not conform to these
standards within thirty days of the date of mailing. A one-time extension of
sixty days may be granted if the sign owner can show just cause for the delay
because of unusual weather conditions or other reasons beyond the sign owner's
control. If the repairs are not completed within the specified time, the sign
must be removed at the sign owner or landowner's expense.
C. Nonconforming signs must be maintained
subject to the following restrictions:
(1) No
maintenance may occur which will lengthen the life of the device.
(2) There must be existing property rights in
the sign.
(3) The right to continue
a nonconforming sign is confined to the permitted sign owner or his
transferee.
(4) In the event a
nonconforming device is partially destroyed by wind or other natural forces
including tornadoes, hurricanes, or other catastrophic occurrences, the
Department must determine whether to allow the sign to be rebuilt. If the
Department determines that the damage to the sign was greater than 50 percent
of its replacement costs as determined by nationally recognized catalogues of
vendors of construction and outdoor advertising materials as of the time of the
damage, the sign must be dismantled at no cost to the Department and may not be
erected again. A current issue of the catalogue or advertisement indicating
materials to be replaced must be submitted with the request to rebuild. Salvage
parts cannot be used to determine replacement value unless approved by the
Department.
(5) A nonconforming
sign which is destroyed by an Act of God or catastrophic act cannot be rebuilt,
and the debris from the destroyed sign shall be removed by the sign owner, or
by the Department at the sign owner's expense and the permit
cancelled.
(6) A nonconforming sign
when relocated or moved shall no longer be considered a nonconforming sign and
thereafter shall be subject to all the provisions of law and of these
regulations relating to outdoor advertising.
(7) The sign must remain substantially the
same as it was on the effective date of the State law or regulations which
rendered the sign nonconforming. Reasonable repair and maintenance of a
nonconforming sign is not a change which would terminate nonconforming use.
Extension, enlargement, rebuilding, changing the materials of the sign
structure, changing the size of the sign structure materials, adding catwalks,
adding guys or struts for stabilization of the sign or structure, adding lights
to an unilluminated sign, changing the height of the sign above ground or
re-erection of the sign will make the sign illegal. Maintenance will be limited
to:
(a) Replacement of nuts and
bolts;
(b) Additional nailing,
riveting or welding;
(c) Cleaning
and painting;
(d) Manipulation to
level or plumb the device, but not to the extent of adding guys or struts for
stabilization of the sign or structure;
(e) A change of the advertising message,
including changing faces, as long as similar materials are used and the sign
face is not enlarged. If the sign face or faces are reduced, they may not
thereafter ever be increased.
(8) The Department must be notified of any
maintenance to a nonconforming sign prior to the work being
performed.
(9) Any nonconforming
sign suffering damage in excess of normal wear cannot be repaired without:
(a) Notifying the Department in writing of
the extent of the damage, the reason the damage is in excess of normal wear,
and providing clear, color, on-site photographs of the damaged sign and all
salvageable parts thereof, and a description of the repair work to be
undertaken including the estimated cost of repair on the approved form;
and
(b) Receiving written notice
from the Department authorizing the repair work as described above. If said
work authorization is granted, it shall be mailed to the applicant within
thirty days of receipt of the information described in (a) above. Any such sign
which is repaired without Department authorization becomes illegal.
D. No individual,
company, corporation, public or private entity may cut, trim, remove or
otherwise cause to be removed planted or natural vegetation from within the
limits of highway rights-of-way unless specifically provided for by a properly
executed agreement between the Department, individual, company, corporation,
public or private entity. No such agreement may be granted for sign locations
which have been permitted for less than two years. All such agreements shall be
entered into at the sole discretion of the Department.
E. Signs may not be serviced from or across
the right-of-way of Interstate or freeway primary federal-aid highways or
across controlled access lines of federal-aid primary routes. Any sign which is
so serviced becomes illegal and must be removed.
