The removal of nonconforming outdoor advertising signs along highways. (FE)

Under current law, the Department of Transportation generally may remove signs that do not conform to applicable requirements but, for each sign removed, must pay just compensation to the owner of the sign and to the owner of the land on which the sign is located. For on-property signs, if the on-property sign was lawful when it was erected but later does not comply with the applicable requirements for on-property signs, DOT must declare the sign to be nonconforming but may not remove the sign unless additional criteria are met. These signs are not subject to removal for changing the advertising message on the sign or performing customary maintenance on the sign, but are subject to removal, without compensation, if the sign is enlarged, replaced, or relocated or if additional signs are erected. For signs lawfully erected after March 18, 1972, which subsequently become nonconforming, DOT must require removal of the signs, with compensation, by the end of the fifth year after they become nonconforming, but only if there are sufficient funds available to DOT to pay just compensation for the sign removal.

Under this bill, business area signs, directional signs, and signs outside the adjacent area (together referred to as off-property signs) that were lawfully erected but that no longer conform to applicable requirements must be declared nonconforming but are not subject to removal unless additional criteria are met.

These nonconforming off-property signs are not subject to removal for changing the advertising message on the sign or performing customary maintenance on the sign.

These signs must remain substantially the same as they were on the date they became nonconforming in order to be exempt from removal by DOT although they can have an extension temporarily attached to the sign face if certain conditions are met. “Substantially the same" is defined to mean that, since the sign became nonconforming, no “substantial change" to the sign has been made. “Substantial change" to a sign is defined to mean any of the following: increasing the number of upright supports; changing the physical location; increasing the square footage or area of the sign face, except by adding a temporary extension meeting certain conditions; adding changeable message capability; or adding illumination to a sign that was previously not illuminated. With exceptions, these nonconforming off-property signs are subject to removal, without compensation, if a substantial change is made to the sign, if additional signs are erected, or if the sign is considered “destroyed," as defined under the bill. However, under one exception, if a nonconforming off-property sign is damaged or destroyed by a criminal or tortious act, the sign may be replaced or repaired. The bill also creates several definitions applicable to these nonconforming off-property signs, including a definition of “customary maintenance."