July 1, 2015, Introduced by Senators HILDENBRAND and MACGREGOR and referred to the Committee on Transportation.
A bill to amend 1972 PA 106, entitled
"Highway advertising act of 1972,"
by amending sections 2 and 13 (MCL 252.302 and 252.313), section 2
as amended by 2014 PA 2 and section 13 as amended by 1998 PA 533.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Abandoned or discontinued sign or sign structure" or
"abandoned sign" means a sign or sign structure subject to this
act, the owner of which has failed to secure a permit, has failed
to identify the sign or sign structure, or has failed to respond to
notice.
(b) "Adjacent area" means the area measured from the nearest
edge of the right-of-way of an interstate highway, freeway, or
primary highway and, in urbanized areas, extending 3,000 feet
perpendicularly and then along a line parallel to the right-of-way
line or, outside of urbanized areas, extending perpendicularly to
the limit where a sign is visible and then along a line parallel to
the right-of-way line.
(c) "Annual permit" means a permit for a billboard under this
act.
(d) "Billboard" means a sign separate from a premises erected
for the purpose of advertising a product, event, person, or subject
not related to the premises on which the sign is located. Billboard
does not include an off-premises directional sign.
(e) "Business area" means, except as otherwise provided in
this subdivision, an adjacent area that is zoned by a state,
county, township, or municipal zoning authority for industrial or
commercial purposes, customarily referred to as "b" or business,
"c" or commercial, "i" or industrial, "m" or manufacturing, and "s"
or service, and all other similar classifications and that is
within a city, village, or charter township or is within 1 mile of
the corporate limits of a city, village, or charter township or is
beyond 1 mile of the corporate limits of a city, village, or
charter township and contains 1 or more permanent structures
devoted to the industrial or commercial purposes described in this
subdivision and that extends along the highway a distance of 800
feet beyond each edge of the activity. Business area includes an
adjacent area that is not zoned by a state, county, township, or
municipal zoning authority for industrial or commercial purposes if
the adjacent area is subject to a special use permit issued by a
state, county, township, or municipal zoning authority that allows
commercial or industrial activities to be conducted within the
adjacent area, if the state, county, township, or municipal zoning
authority has approved the erection or maintenance of a sign or
sign structure in that adjacent area. Each side of the highway is
considered separately in applying this definition except that where
it is not topographically feasible for a sign or sign structure to
be erected or maintained on the same side of the highway as the
permanent structure devoted to industrial or commercial purposes, a
business area may be established on the opposite side of a primary
highway in an area zoned commercial or industrial or in an unzoned
area with the approval of the state highway commission. A permanent
structure devoted to industrial or commercial purposes does not
result in the establishment of a business area on both sides of the
highway. All measurements shall be from the outer edge of the
regularly used building, parking lot, or storage or processing area
of the commercial or industrial activity and not from the property
lines of the activities and shall be along or parallel to the edge
or pavement of the highway. Commercial or industrial purposes are
those activities generally restricted to commercial or industrial
zones in jurisdictions that have zoning. In addition, the following
activities are not commercial or industrial:
(i) Agricultural, animal husbandry, forestry, grazing,
farming, and related activities, including, but not limited to,
wayside fresh produce stands.
(ii) Transient or temporary activities.
(iii) Activities not visible from the main-traveled way.
(iv) Activities conducted in a building principally used as a
residence, or in a building located on property that is used
principally for residential purposes or for the activities in
subparagraph (i).
(v) Railroad tracks and minor sidings.
(vi) Outdoor advertising.
(vii) Activities more than 660 feet from the main-traveled
way.
(viii) Activities that have not been in continuous operation
of a business or commercial nature for at least 2 years.
(ix) Public utility facilities, whether regularly staffed or
not.
(x) Structures associated with on-site outdoor recreational
activities such as riding stables, golf course shops, and
campground offices.
(xi) Activities conducted in a structure for which an
occupancy permit has not been issued or that is not a fully
enclosed building, having all necessary utility service and
sanitary facilities required for its intended commercial or
industrial use.
(xii) A storage facility for a business or other activity not
located on the same property, except a storage building having at
least 10 separate units that are available for rent by the public.
(xiii) A temporary business solely established to qualify as
commercial or industrial activity under this act.
(f) "Department" means the state transportation department.
(g) "Destroyed sign" means a nonconforming sign that has been
damaged by storm, fire, or other casualty that requires customary
maintenance and repair in excess of 60% of the replacement cost of
a new sign structure constructed of equivalent materials and
equipment. Destroyed sign does not include a nonconforming sign
that has been damaged by vandalism or a negligent act of a person.
(h) "Digital billboard" means a sign or sign structure that
utilizes an electronic means to display a series of messages that
are changed by electronic means. Digital billboard does not include
a sign that contains an embedded electronic message device or a
trivision sign.
(i) "Digital billboard permit" means a permit for a digital
billboard that is renewable on an annual basis.
(j) "Directional sign" means a sign that contains only
directional information regarding and the identification of 1 of
the following:
(i) A public or private activity or attraction that is owned
or operated by the federal or a state or local government or an
agency of the federal or a state or local government.
(ii) A publicly or privately owned natural phenomenon or a
historic, cultural, scientific, educational, or religious site.
(iii) An area that is in the interest of the traveling public,
if the area is of natural scenic beauty or is naturally suited for
outdoor recreation.
(k) "Embedded electronic message device" means an accessory
that is made part of a sign, sign face, or sign structure with a
total area that is less than that of the sign face to which it is
attached, and displays only static messages containing text or
numbers that are directly associated with the current advertiser.
Embedded electronic message device does not include a digital
billboard or a device that displays graphics other than messages
containing text or numbers.
(l) "Erect" means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place,
affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into
being or establish.
(m) "Existing vegetation" means trees, bushes, and ground
cover that the department intends to maintain and that are at least
the same size as similar vegetation that the department would
customarily install and maintain or allow to be installed and
maintained as part of a roadside management plan, roadside
management project, or landscaping project.
(n) "Freeway" means a divided highway of not less than 2 lanes
in each direction to which owners or occupants of abutting property
or the public do not have a right of ingress or egress to, from, or
across the highway, except at points determined by or as otherwise
provided by the authorities responsible for the freeway.
(o) "Incorporated municipality" means a city, village, or
charter township.
(p) "Index" means the Detroit consumer price index for all
urban
consumers published by the United States bureau of labor
statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics or, if that index ceases to
be
published by the United States bureau of labor statistics,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the published index that most closely
measures inflation, as determined by the department.
(q) "Interim permit" means a permit that can be utilized by
the applicant to construct a sign structure that is visible from a
freeway, interstate, or primary highway.
(r) "Interstate highway" means a highway officially designated
as a part of the national system of interstate and defense highways
by the department and approved by the federal government under 23
USC 103.
(s) "Location" means a place where a sign structure subject to
this act is located.
(t) "Main-traveled way" means the traveled way of a highway on
which through traffic is carried. Main-traveled way includes the
traveled way of each of the separate roadways for traffic in
opposite directions on a divided highway. Main-traveled way does
not include facilities such as frontage roads, turning roadways, or
parking areas.
(u) "Maintain" means to allow to exist and includes the
periodic changing of advertising messages, and customary
maintenance and repair of signs and sign structures.
(v) "Nationally known" means an activity or attraction that is
all of the following:
(i) An active part of a national advertising promotion.
(ii) Listed on a national register, if applicable.
(iii) Staffed and maintains a register of visitors.
(iv) Listed in national travel guides.
(v) Organized to provide information or conducted tours for a
significant portion of the year, or for at least 3 months if the
activity or attraction is seasonal in nature.
(w) "Nonconforming sign" means a sign or sign structure, other
than a nonstandard sign or a sign that is erected and maintained in
a business area along a scenic byway prior to the designation as a
scenic byway, that satisfies 1 of the following:
(i) Was legally erected before March 31, 1972 but could not be
legally erected under the current provisions of this act.
(ii) Is a sign or sign structure regulated under this act that
was legally erected after March 31, 1972 but could not be legally
erected under the current provisions of this act.
(x) "Nonstandard sign" means a sign or sign structure other
than a nonconforming sign, that is subject to this act, was legally
erected before March 23, 1999, is not a nonconforming sign, and
does not comply with the spacing requirements in section 17(1), but
otherwise complies with this act.
(y) "On-premises sign" means a sign advertising activities
conducted or maintained on the property on which it is located. The
boundary of the property shall be as determined by tax rolls, deed
registrations, and apparent land use delineations. If a sign
consists principally of brand name or trade name advertising and
the product or service advertised is only incidental to the
principal activity conducted or maintained on the property, or if
the sign brings rental income to the property owner or sign owner,
it shall be considered the business of outdoor advertising and not
an on-premises sign. On-premises sign does not include a sign on a
narrow strip of land contiguous to the advertised activity, or a
sign on an easement on adjacent property, when the purpose is
clearly to circumvent the intent of this act.
(z) "Person" means any individual, partnership, private
association, or corporation, state, county, city, village,
township, charter township, or other public or municipal
association or corporation.
(aa) "Primary highway" means a highway other than an
interstate highway or freeway that is a regulated route.
(bb) "Regionally known" means an activity or attraction that
is all of the following:
(i) Known throughout this state or the peninsula of this state
in which the activity or attraction is located and in 1 or more
states adjoining this state.
(ii) Listed on a state register, if applicable.
(iii) Staffed and maintains a register of visitors.
(iv) Organized to provide information or conducted tours for a
significant portion of the year, or for at least 3 months if the
activity or attraction is seasonal in nature.
(cc) "Regulated route" means an interstate highway, freeway,
or primary highway required to be regulated under 23 USC 131 and
any other route that is required to be regulated or may become
required to be regulated by the department under this act or
another state or federal statute or legal requirement.
(dd) "Religious organization sign" means a sign, not larger
than 8 square feet, that gives notice of religious services.
(ee) "Scenic byway" means a regulated route that is required
to be regulated as a scenic byway under 23 USC 131.
(ff) "Secondary highway" means a state secondary road or
county primary road.
(gg) "Service club sign" means a sign, not larger than 8
square feet, that gives notice about nonprofit service clubs or
charitable associations.
(hh) "Sign" means any outdoor sign, display, device, figure,
painting, drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other
thing, whether placed individually or on a T-type, V-type, back to
back, or double-faced display, that is designed, intended, or used
to advertise or inform.
(ii) "Sign structure" means the assembled components that make
up an outdoor advertising display, including, but not limited to,
uprights, supports, facings, and trim. A sign structure may contain
1 or 2 signs per facing and may be double-faced, back to back, T-
type, or V-type.
(jj) "Tobacco product" means any tobacco product sold to the
general public and includes, but is not limited to, cigarettes,
tobacco snuff, and chewing tobacco.
(kk) "Trivision sign" means a sign or sign structure that uses
mechanical means to display more than 1 message in sequence.
(ll) "Unzoned commercial or industrial area" means an area
that is within an adjacent area, that is not zoned by state or
local law, regulation, or ordinance, that contains 1 or more
permanent structures devoted to the industrial or commercial
purposes described in subdivision (e), and that extends along the
highway a distance of 800 feet beyond each edge of the activity.
Each side of the highway is considered separately in applying this
definition except that where it is not topographically feasible for
a sign or sign structure to be erected or maintained on the same
side of the highway as the permanent structure devoted to
industrial or commercial purposes, an unzoned commercial or
industrial area may be established on the opposite side of a
primary highway in an area zoned commercial or industrial or in an
unzoned area with the approval of the state highway commission. A
permanent structure devoted to industrial or commercial purposes
does not result in the establishment of an unzoned commercial or
industrial area on both sides of the highway. All measurements
shall be from the outer edge of the regularly used building,
parking lot, or storage or processing area of the commercial or
industrial activity and not from the property lines of the
activities and shall be along or parallel to the edge or pavement
of the highway. Commercial or industrial purposes are those
activities generally restricted to commercial or industrial zones
in jurisdictions that have zoning. In addition, the following
activities are not commercial or industrial:
(i) Agricultural, animal husbandry, forestry, grazing, farming
and related activities, including, but not limited to, wayside
fresh produce stands.
(ii) Transient or temporary activities.
(iii) Activities not visible from the main-traveled way.
(iv) Activities conducted in a building principally used as a
residence, or in a building located on property that is used
principally for residential purposes or for the activities in
subparagraph (i).
(v) Railroad tracks and minor sidings.
(vi) Outdoor advertising.
(vii) Activities more than 660 feet from the main-traveled
way.
(viii) Activities that have not been in continuous operation
of a business or commercial nature for at least 2 years.
(ix) Public utility facilities, whether regularly staffed or
not.
(x) Structures associated with on-site outdoor recreational
activities such as riding stables, golf course shops, and
campground offices.
(xi) Activities conducted in a structure for which an
occupancy permit has not been issued or that is not a fully
enclosed building, having all necessary utility service and
sanitary facilities required for its intended commercial or
industrial use.
(xii) A storage facility for a business or other activity not
located on the same property, except a storage building having at
least 10 separate units that are available for rent by the public.
(xiii) A temporary business solely established to qualify as
commercial or industrial activity under this act.
(mm) "Visible" means a sign that has a message that is capable
of being seen by an individual of normal visual acuity when
traveling in a motor vehicle.
Sec. 13. (1) A sign shall not be erected or maintained in an
adjacent area where the facing of the sign is visible from an
interstate highway, freeway, or primary highway except the
following:
(a) Directional and other official signs, including, but not
limited to, signs pertaining to natural wonders, scenic and
historical attractions, which are required or authorized by law,
and which comply with rules promulgated by the department relative
to the lighting, size, number, and spacing thereof.
(b) Signs advertising the sale or lease of real property upon
which they are located.
(c) On-premises signs.
(d) Signs located in a business area or an unzoned commercial
and industrial area and that comply with sections 12, 15, 16, and
17 except that a sign not described in subdivision (a), (b), or (c)
shall not be erected or maintained beyond 660 feet of the nearest
edge of the right of way. This subdivision also applies to a sign
located in an area that was not a business area before the
effective date of the 2015 amendatory act that amended this section
but became a business area on or after the effective date of the
2015 amendatory act that amended this section.
(2) If the department is authorized by law to designate scenic
areas along an interstate highway, freeway, or primary highway,
signs shall not be erected or maintained within areas so designated
unless located within a business area or an unzoned commercial or
industrial area where signs may be erected or maintained in
compliance with this act.