H*3768 Session 108 (1989-1990)
H*3768(Rat #0631, Act #0519 of 1990) General Bill, By R.L. Altman, Keegan and
J.J. Snow
A Bill to amend Articles 1 and 3, Chapter 25, Title 57, as amended, Code of
Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to outdoor advertising, so as to revise
the requirements of the Highway Advertising Control Act by providing for
definitions, authorized signs, the issuance of permits, illegal advertising
devices, signs on rights-of-way, removal of and compensation for signs,
regulation by other authorities, expenditures for removal, violations, and
penalties.
03/29/89 House Introduced and read first time HJ-13
03/29/89 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-13
05/02/89 House Committee report: Favorable Education and Public
Works HJ-26
05/11/89 House Amended HJ-42
05/11/89 House Read second time HJ-43
05/17/89 House Amended HJ-33
05/17/89 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-33
05/18/89 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-7
05/18/89 Senate Referred to Committee on Transportation SJ-8
03/28/90 Senate Committee report: Favorable Transportation SJ-204
04/04/90 Senate Read second time SJ-18
04/04/90 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
amendments SJ-18
04/26/90 Senate Amended SJ-99
04/26/90 Senate Read third time and returned to House with
amendments SJ-99
05/02/90 House Debate adjourned on Senate amendments until
Thursday, May 3, 1990 HJ-44
05/10/90 House Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-34
05/24/90 Ratified R 631
05/30/90 Signed By Governor
05/30/90 Effective date 05/30/90
05/30/90 Act No. 519
06/19/90 Copies available
(A519, R631, H3768)
AN ACT TO AMEND ARTICLES 1 AND 3, CHAPTER 25, TITLE 57, AS AMENDED,
CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO OUTDOOR ADVERTISING,
SO AS TO REVISE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE HIGHWAY ADVERTISING CONTROL
ACT BY PROVIDING FOR DEFINITIONS, AUTHORIZED SIGNS, THE ISSUANCE OF
PERMITS, ILLEGAL ADVERTISING DEVICES, SIGNS ON RIGHTS-OF-WAY, REMOVAL
OF AND COMPENSATION FOR SIGNS, REGULATION BY OTHER AUTHORITIES,
EXPENDITURES FOR REMOVAL, VIOLATIONS, AND PENALTIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Outdoor advertising requirements revised
SECTION 1. Articles 1 and 3, Chapter 25, Title 57 of the 1976
Code, as last amended by Act 173 of 1987, is further amended to read:
"Article 1
General Provisions
Section 57-25-10. It is unlawful for a person to display,
place, or affix a sign, as defined in Section 57-25-120(3), within a
right-of-way and visible from the main-traveled way of the highway. A
person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one
hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
Article 3
General Provisions
Section 57-25-110. This article may be cited as the Highway
Advertising Control Act'.
Section 57-25-120. As used in this article:
(1) Interstate system' means that portion of the national
system of interstate and defense highways located within this State
officially designated now or in the future by the South Carolina
Department of Highways and Public Transportation and approved by the
appropriate office of the United States Government pursuant to the
provisions of Title 23, United States Code, Highways'.
(2) Federal-aid primary system' means that portion of connected
main highways which officially are designated as the federal-aid
primary highway system now or in the future by the Department of
Highways and Public Transportation and approved by the appropriate
office of the United States Government pursuant to the provisions of
Title 23, United States Code, Highways'.
(3) Sign' or 'outdoor advertising sign' means an outdoor sign,
display, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, plaque, poster,
billboard, or other thing which is designed, intended, or used to
advertise or inform, or any part of the advertising or its informative
contents.
(4) An unzoned commercial or industrial area' does not include
land established as a scenic area pursuant to Section 57-25-140 (D)(4)
or land zoned by a subdivision of government. An unzoned commercial,
business, or industrial area means the land occupied by the regularly
used building, parking lot, and storage and processing area of a
commercial, business, or industrial activity and land within six
hundred feet of it on both sides of the highway. The unzoned land
does not include:
(a) land on the opposite side of an interstate or freeway
primary federal-aid highway;
(b) land predominantly used for residential purposes;
(c) land zoned by state or local law, regulation, or
ordinance except land which is zoned in a manner which allows
essentially unrestricted development or where regulation of size,
spacing, and lighting of signs is unrestricted or less restrictive
than the restrictions imposed by Section 57-25-140;
(d) land on the opposite side of a nonfreeway primary
highway which is designated scenic by the State Highways and Public
Transportation Commission.
(5) Commercial or industrial activities' means those
established activities generally recognized as commercial or
industrial by zoning authorities within the State, except that none of
the following are considered commercial or industrial activities:
(a) outdoor advertising structures;
(b) agriculture, forestry, ranching, grazing, farming,
wayside produce stands, quarries, and borrow pits;
(c) activities conducted in a building principally used as
a residence;
(d) hospitals, nursing homes, or long-term care
facilities;
(e) transient or temporary activities;
(f) activities not visible from the main-traveled way;
(g) activities more than six hundred sixty feet from the
nearest edge of the right-of-way of interstate and freeway primary
federal-aid highways or more than three hundred feet from the nearest
edge of the right-of-way of nonfreeway primary federal-aid highways;
(h) railroad tracks and minor sidings;
(i) sham, prohibited, or illegal activities;
(j) junkyards;
(k) schools, churches, or cemeteries;
(l) recreational facilities.
(6) Freeway primary federal-aid highway' means a divided
arterial highway for through traffic with full control of access built
to the same standards as to access as an interstate highway, which is
officially designated now or in the future as a part of the
federal-aid primary system.
Section 57-25-130. The General Assembly finds that outdoor
advertising is a legitimate form of commercial use of the private
property adjacent to the public highways. The General Assembly also
finds that outdoor advertising is an integral part of the business and
marketing function and is an established segment of the national
economy which serves to promote and protect investments in commerce
and industry and is, therefore, a business which must be allowed to
exist and operate where other business and commercial activities are
conducted and that a reasonable use of property for outdoor
advertising to the traveling public is desirable. In order, however,
to prevent unreasonable distraction of operators of motor vehicles,
prevent confusion with regard to traffic lights, signs, or signals,
prevent interference with the effectiveness of traffic regulations,
promote the prosperity, economic well-being, and general welfare of
the State, promote the safety, convenience, and enjoyment of travel on
and protection of the public investment in highways within this State,
and preserve and enhance the natural scenic beauty or aesthetic
features of the highways and adjacent areas, the General Assembly
declares it to be the policy of this State that the erection and
maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in
areas adjacent to the rights-of-way of the interstate and federal-aid
primary systems within this State must be regulated in accordance with
the terms of this article which provide for standards consistent with
customary use in this State and finds that all outdoor advertising
devices which do not conform to the requirements of this article are
illegal. It is the intention of the General Assembly in this article
to provide a statutory basis for regulation of outdoor advertising
consistent with the public policy relating to areas adjacent to
interstate and federal-aid primary systems declared by Congress in
Title 23, United States Code, Highways'.
Section 57-25-140. (A) An outdoor advertising sign must not be
erected or maintained after June 30, 1975, which is visible from the
main-traveled way of the interstate or federal-aid primary highways in
this State and erected with the purpose of its message being read from
the traveled way, except the following:
(1) official signs and notices erected and maintained by
the State or local governmental authorities pursuant to laws or
ordinances for the purpose of carrying out an official duty or
responsibility and historical markers authorized by law and erected by
the State, local governmental authorities, or nonprofit historical
societies;
(2) public utility warning and informational signs,
notices, and markers which customarily are erected and maintained by
publicly or privately owned utilities as essential to their
operations;
(3) signs and notices of service clubs and religious
organizations relating to meetings of nonprofit service clubs,
charitable organizations or associations, or religious services;
(4) directional signs containing directional information
about public places owned and operated by federal, state, or local
governments, public or privately owned natural phenomena, historical,
cultural, educational, and religious sites, and areas of natural
scenic beauty or naturally suited for outdoor recreation, considered
to be in the public interest;
(5) signs advertising the sale or lease of property upon
which they are located;
(6) on-premises signs advertising activities conducted on
the property upon which they are located, including any signs
advertising a business located on property under single ownership on
which are located two or more businesses, regardless of leasing
arrangements;
(7) signs located in areas which are zoned industrial or
commercial under authority of state law;
(8) signs located in unzoned commercial or industrial
areas.
(B) Signs are not permitted in any of the above categories which
imitate or resemble an official traffic sign, signal, or device, are
erected or maintained upon trees, are printed or drawn upon rocks or
other natural features, or are in disrepair.
(C) The size of a sign permitted under items (7) and (8) of
subsection (A) must not be more than six hundred seventy-two square
feet in area, sixty feet in length, or forty-eight feet in height. All
dimensions include border and trim but exclude decorative bases and
supports. Cutouts and extensions are in addition to this amount but
may not increase the height of a sign to more than forty-eight feet
and may not increase the size of a sign facing by more than one
hundred fifty square feet. No more than two sign panels facing in the
same direction may be erected on the same sign structure if the total
area of both sign panels does not exceed the maximum. The maximum
size limitation applies to each sign facing.
(D) No sign permitted under this section may obscure or
otherwise interfere with the effectiveness of an official traffic
sign, signal, or device nor obstruct or interfere with the driver's
view of approaching, merging, or intersecting traffic. No sign except
on premises and FOR SALE or LEASE signs may be located within three
hundred feet of any of the following which are adjacent to the highway
in areas outside of incorporated municipalities or within one hundred
feet on sections inside municipalities:
(1) public parks of ten acres or more;
(2) public forests;
(3) public playgrounds of one-half acre or more;
(4) scenic areas designated by the Highways and Public
Transportation Commission or other state agency having and exercising
that authority.
(E) No sign structure permitted under items (7) and (8) of
subsection (A) on the interstate system or on a federal-aid primary
route, constructed to controlled access standards, may be erected
within five hundred feet of another sign structure on the same side of
the highway. No sign may be located on the interstate system or
controlled access federal-aid primary route adjacent to or within five
hundred feet of an interchange or a rest area measured along the
interstate or controlled access primary highways from the nearest
point of the beginning or ending of pavement widening at the exit from
or entrance to the main-traveled way. The distance from an
interchange or a rest area set forth in this subsection does not apply
to sites adjacent to highways that are within the boundaries of an
incorporated municipality. No sign structure permitted under items
(7) and (8) of subsection (A) on a noncontrolled access federal-aid
primary route outside of an incorporated municipality may be erected
within three hundred feet of another sign structure on the same side
of the highway. No sign structure located adjacent to a noncontrolled
access federal-aid primary route may be erected within a distance of
one hundred feet of another sign structure inside an incorporated
municipality on the same side of the highway. This subsection does
not apply to advertising displays which are separated by a building or
other obstruction so that only one display located within the minimum
spacing distance is visible from any point on the highway at any one
time.
(F) No sign permitted under items (7) and (8) of subsection (A)
may contain, include, or be illuminated by a flashing, intermittent,
or moving light, except those giving public service information such
as time, date, temperature, weather, or other similar information. No
sign permitted under this section may be erected or maintained which
is not shielded effectively so as to prevent beams or rays of light
from being directed at a portion of the main-traveled way of an
interstate or federal-aid primary route and which is of an intensity
or brilliance so as to cause glare or to impair the vision of the
driver of a motor vehicle or which otherwise may interfere with a
driver's operation of a motor vehicle. No sign may be illuminated so
that it interferes with the effectiveness of or obscures an official
traffic sign, device, or signal.
(G) The standards contained in this section pertaining to size,
shape, description, lighting, and spacing of outdoor advertising signs
permitted in zoned and unzoned commercial and industrial areas do not
apply to signs lawfully in place on this article's effective date.
Signs lawfully in place on November 3, 1971, or erected within six
months after that date under a lease dated and recorded before that
date are exempted from the standards requirement.
(H) Whenever a bona fide county or local zoning authority has
made a determination of customary use, which includes a regulation of
size, lighting, and spacing of outdoor advertising signs, in zoned
industrial or commercial areas, the determination prevails over the
size, lighting, and spacing otherwise provided for the signs in
subsections (C) and (E) if all of the following exist:
(1) The standards imposed on size, lighting, and spacing
are at least as restrictive as the standards set forth in subsections
(C), (D), (E), and (F).
(2) The zoning plan provides for effective enforcement by
the zoning authority of the imposed restrictions.
(3) The zoning plan and amendments are submitted to and
approved by the Department of Highways and Public Transportation
before they prevail over the standards set forth in this section.
Zoning which controls contiguous tracts which comprise less than
twenty percent of the land within a political subdivision or land
which is zoned primarily to permit outdoor advertising signs is not
considered zoning for the purposes of this section.
(I)(1) No person may cut, trim, or otherwise cause to be
removed vegetation from within the limits of highway rights-of-way
unless permitted to do so by the department. Permits to remove
vegetation may be granted only for sign locations which have been
permitted at least two years and then only at the sole discretion of
the department.
(2) If vegetation is removed from within a highway
right-of-way without a permit by the sign owner or his agent and the
removal has the effect of enhancing the visibility of the outdoor
advertising sign, the sign is illegal and must be removed at the
responsible party's expense. Upon a violation of this subsection the
responsible party is not eligible for a sign permit:
(a) for one year: first violation;
(b) for five years: second violation;
(c) permanently: third and subsequent violations.
(3) The department must be reimbursed for cleaning or
replanting at the site of the illegal cutting by the responsible
party. Until the expenses are reimbursed, the responsible party must
not be issued a sign permit.
(J) Signs permitted under items (1), (2), (3), and (4) of
subsection (A) must comply with the regulations promulgated by the
Highways and Public Transportation Commission in accordance with
uniform national standards.
Section 57-25-150. (A) The Highways and Public Transportation
Commission shall issue permits for the erection and maintenance of
outdoor advertising signs coming within the exceptions contained in
items (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (A) of Section 57-25-140,
consistent with the safety and welfare of the traveling public
necessary to carry out the policy of the State declared in this
article and consistent with the national standards promulgated by the
Secretary of Transportation or other appropriate federal official
pursuant to Title 23, United States Code. The commission also shall
promulgate regulations governing the issuance of the permits and
standards for size, spacing, and lighting of the signs and their
messages.
(B) The Department of Highways and Public Transportation shall
issue permits for all signs on location on November 3, 1971, except
those signs erected pursuant to items (1), (2), (3), (5), and (6) of
subsection (A) of Section 57-25-140. It also shall issue permits for
the erection and maintenance of additional outdoor advertising signs
coming within the exceptions contained within items (4), (7), and (8)
of subsection (A) of Section 57-25-140. Sign owners must be assessed
the following fees:
(1) the appropriate annual fee plus an initial
nonrefundable permit application fee of one hundred dollars;
(2) annual fee of twenty dollars if the advertising area
does not exceed three hundred fifty square feet;
(3) annual fee of thirty dollars if the advertising area
exceeds three hundred fifty square feet.
The permit fees must be allocated first for administrative costs
incurred by the department in maintaining the outdoor advertising
program.
The permit number must be displayed prominently on the sign.
(C) Permits are for the calendar year, must be assigned a
permanent number, and must be renewed annually upon payment of the fee
for the new year without the filing of a new application. Fees must
not be prorated for a portion of the year. Only one permit is
required for a double-faced, back-to-back, or V-type sign. Advertising
copy may be changed without the payment of an additional fee. No
permit is required before January 1, 1973. Failure to pay a renewal
fee within ninety days of the date of the first bill for the fee
cancels the permit and makes the sign illegal.
(D) The Highways and Public Transportation Commission shall
promulgate regulations governing the issuance of permits which must
include mandatory maintenance to insure that all signs are always in a
good state of repair. Signs not in a good state of repair are
illegal.
(E) The cost of permits or their renewals required under the
provisions of this article are in addition to ad valorem taxes.
(F) No permit application may be approved without written
permission of the owner or other person in lawful possession of the
site designated as the location of the sign in the application.
(G) Permits for the following signs are void:
(1) conforming sign which is removed voluntarily for more
than thirty days;
(2) conforming sign which is removed, dismantled, or
destroyed by an act of God or vandalism for more than sixty days;
(3) nonconforming sign which is removed voluntarily or
removed, dismantled, or destroyed by an act of God or vandalism.
Section 57-25-160. A person who erects or maintains an
advertising device in violation of Section 57-25-140 is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two
hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days for each
violation.
In addition, a person who violates the provisions of this chapter
must be assessed by the department a civil penalty of one hundred
dollars a day until the violation ends. A civil penalty must be paid
to the department and allocated to the administrative costs of the
outdoor advertising program. All monies in excess of the
administrative costs must be used in the acquisition of nonconforming
signs and may be carried over from year to year. No permit may be
issued to a person who is in violation of the provisions of this
chapter or who has not paid an assessed civil penalty.
Section 57-25-170. The Highways and Public Transportation
Commission may provide within the right-of-way for areas at
appropriate distances from interchanges on the interstate system and
controlled access roads on the federal-aid primary system on which
signs, displays, and devices giving specific information in the
interest of the traveling public may be erected and maintained under
standards and regulations authorized to be adopted and promulgated by
the commission. The standards and regulations may provide for
cooperative agreements between the Department of Highways and Public
Transportation and private interests for the use and display of names
for FOOD, LODGING, and GAS information signs on the highway
right-of-way.
Section 57-25-180. (A) An outdoor advertising sign which violates
the provisions of this article is illegal and the Department of
Highways and Public Transportation shall give thirty days' notice by
certified or registered mail to the owner of the advertising sign and
to the owner of the property on which the sign is located for its
removal. However, a sign lawfully in existence along the interstate
system or the federal-aid primary system on November 3, 1971, or which
was lawfully erected after that date, which is not in conformity with
the provisions contained in this article, is not required to be
removed until just compensation has been paid for it. Except as
provided in Section 57-25-160, no sign otherwise required to be
removed under this article for which just compensation is authorized
to be paid by the department is required to be removed if the federal
share of at least seventy-five percent of the just compensation to be
paid upon its removal is not available for the payment. Nothing in
this section prevents the removal of nonconforming signs for which no
federal share is payable in those instances where no compensation has
to be paid.
Employees or agents of the department may go upon the property
upon which an illegal sign is located after expiration of the
thirty-day period for the purpose of its removal. The period of the
notice must be computed from the date of mailing. No notice, however,
is required to be given to the owner of an advertising sign for which
a permit has not been obtained. The moving of an illegal sign from
one location to another without a permit having been obtained for the
illegal sign does not require the department to provide additional
notice to the sign owner before removing the sign, even if the sign is
moved from the property of one owner to the property of another.
(C) When the department removes an illegal sign, it must be
reimbursed the removal expenses by the sign owner. The sign must be
maintained in the possession of the department for no more than thirty
days during which the sign may be claimed by the owner upon payment of
the expenses. If the sign is not claimed during the thirty days, it
is declared abandoned, becomes the property of the department, and may
be disposed of through sale or in any other manner which the
department considers appropriate. Even if the owner does not recover
the sign, he remains liable to the department for the expenses
incurred in removing and storing the sign. Until the expenses are
reimbursed, the sign owner must not be issued a permit for an outdoor
advertising sign from the department.
(D) Review of the department's determination that a sign is
illegal is through an administrative hearing pursuant to the
Administrative Procedures Act. Written request for the review must be
received by the department within the thirty-day period.
Section 57-25-190. (A) The Department of Highways and Public
Transportation may acquire by purchase, gift, or condemnation and
shall pay just compensation upon the removal of the following outdoor
advertising signs:
(1) those lawfully in existence on November 3, 1971;
(2) those lawfully erected after November 2, 1971.
(B) Compensation may be paid only for the taking from the owner
of:
(1) a sign of all right, title, leasehold, and interest in
it;
(2) the real property on which the sign is located of the
right to erect and maintain a sign on it.
(C) No sign may be removed until the owner of the property on
which it is located has been compensated fully for a loss which may be
suffered by him as a result of the removal of the sign through the
termination of a lease or other financial arrangement with the owner
of the sign. The compensation must include damage to the landowner's
property occasioned by the removal of the sign. The Department of
Highways and Public Transportation is limited to an expenditure of
five million dollars for the State's part of just compensation.
(D) Tourist oriented directional signs must be the last to be
removed under the terms of this article.
Section 57-25-200. (A) Within the requirements of this
article the Highways and Public Transportation Commission may enter
into agreements with other governmental authorities relating to the
control of outdoor advertising in areas adjacent to the interstate and
primary highway systems, including the establishment of information
centers and safety rest areas and take action in the name of the State
to comply with the terms of the agreements.
(B) If an agreement is not achieved, the Attorney General of
this State promptly shall initiate proceedings under the provisions of
Section 131(1) of Title 23 of the United States Code with respect to
hearings, stay of penalties, and judicial review in order to resolve
the disagreement by judicial determination. He also shall initiate
the proceedings if there is a determination to withhold funds from
this State for its alleged failure to comply with any provision of
Section 131 in order to obtain a judicial determination of whether
this article provides effective control of outdoor advertising in
conformity with the section and, if not, the extent of modifications
necessary to bring it into compliance.
Section 57-25-210. The Highways and Public Transportation
Commission is not required to expend funds for the removal of outdoor
advertising under this article until federal funds are made available
to the State for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this
article and the commission has entered into an agreement with the
Secretary of Transportation as authorized by Section 57-25-200 and as
provided by the Highway Beautification Act of 1965.
Section 57-25-220. Nothing in this article abrogates or
affects the provisions of a lawful ordinance, regulation, or
resolution which is more restrictive than the provisions of this
article."
Effective date
SECTION 2. The effective date referenced in Section 57-25-140(G),
as amended in Section 1 of this act, is the effective date of this
act.
Obscene or indecent billboards
SECTION 3. (A) No billboard shall be erected or displayed
containing obscene or indecent words, photographs, or depictions.
(B) Obscene words, photographs, or depictions must be defined
and interpreted as provided in Section 16-15-305(B), (C), (D), and
(E).
(C) A billboard is indecent when:
(1) taken as a whole, it describes, in a patently
offensive way, as determined by contemporary community standards,
sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body; and
(2) taken as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value.
Time effective
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 30th day of May, 1990.
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