Arizona Administrative Code › Title 17 - TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 3 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HIGHWAYS › Article 7 - HIGHWAY BEAUTIFICATION › Section R17-3-701 - Outdoor Advertising Control

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
A. Purpose. The purpose of this subsection is
				to present the definitions of specialized terms used in describing outdoor
				advertising signs and matters relating to outdoor advertising signs. Terms used
				in this rule are defined as follows:
1."Abandoned sign" means a sign for which neither the sign
				  owner nor the landowner claim any responsibility.
2."Back-to-back sign" means a sign that carries faces
				  attached on each side of the structure and is read from opposite
				  directions.
3."Directional" means signs containing directional
				  information about public places owned or operated by federal, state, or local
				  government or their agencies; publicly or privately owned natural phenomena,
				  historic, cultural, scientific, educational, religious, and rural activity
				  sites; and areas of natural scenic beauty or naturally suited for outdoor
				  recreation, deemed to be in the interest of the traveling public.
4."Directional and other official signs and notices" includes
				  only official signs and notices, public utility signs, service club and
				  religious notices, public service signs, and directional signs.
5."Double-faced sign" means a sign that has two faces facing
				  in the same direction.
6."Erect" means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place,
				  affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any way bring into being or
				  establish.
7."Face" means the surface of an outdoor advertising
				  structure on which the design is posted or painted, usually made of galvanized
				  metal sheets, fiberboard, plywood or plastic.
8."Federal or state law" means a federal or state
				  constitutional provision or statute, or an ordinance, rule, or regulation
				  enacted or adopted by a state or federal agency or a political subdivision of a
				  state pursuant to a federal or state constitution or statute.
9."Illegal sign" means a sign that was erected or maintained,
				  or both, in violation of the state law.
10."Intended to be read from the main-traveled way" is
				  defined by any of the following criteria:
a. More than 80% of the average daily traffic
				(as determined by traffic counts) viewing the outdoor advertising is traveling
				in either or both directions along the main-traveled way.
b. Message content is of such a nature that
				it would be only of interest for the traffic using the main-traveled
				way.
c. The sales value of the
				outdoor advertising is directly attributable to advertising circulation
				generated by traffic along the main-traveled way.
11."Interchange" means a junction of two or more highways by
				  a system of separate levels that permit traffic to pass from one to another
				  without the crossing of traffic streams.
12."Landmark sign" means a sign of historic or artistic
				  significance that existed on October 22, 1965, which may be preserved or
				  maintained as determined by the Director and approved by the Secretary of
				  Transportation.
13."Lease" means an agreement, oral or in writing, by which
				  possession or use of land or interests in land is given by the owner to another
				  person for a specified period of time.
14."Maintain" means to allow to exist, including such
				  activities necessary to keep the sign in good repair, safe condition, and
				  change of copy.
15."Nonconforming sign" means a sign that was lawfully
				  erected but does not comply with the provisions of state law or state laws
				  passed at a later date or later fails to comply with state law or state
				  regulations due to changed conditions. Illegally erected or maintained signs
				  are not nonconforming signs.
16."Normal maintenance (nonconforming sign)" means the
				  maintenance customary to keep a sign in ordinary repair, upkeep or
				  refurbishing. The maintenance does not include:
a. Maintenance that exceeds 50% of the
				appraised value using current appraisal schedules for a sign, or
b. Repairs to a sign damaged to such an
				extent that 60% or more of the uprights require replacement for wood uprights,
				or 30% or more of the length of each upright support above ground requires
				replacement for metal uprights.
17."Obsolete sign" means a directional or other official sign
				  the purpose of which is no longer pertinent.
18."Official signs and notices" means signs and notices,
				  other than traffic regulatory signs and notices, erected and maintained by
				  public officers or public agencies within their territorial or zoning
				  jurisdiction and pursuant to direction or authorization contained in federal,
				  state, or local law for the purposes of carrying out an official duty or
				  responsibility. Historical markers authorized by state law and erected by state
				  or local government agencies or nonprofit historical societies are official
				  signs.
19."Off-premise sign" means an outdoor advertising sign that
				  advertises an activity, service or product and that is located on premises
				  other than the premises at which the activity or service occurs or the product
				  is sold or manufactured.
20."On-premise sign" means any sign that meets the following
				  requirements (such signs are not controlled by state statutes):
a. Premises. The sign must be located on the
				same premises as the activity or property advertised.
b. Purpose. The sign must have as its
				purpose:
i. The identification of the
				activity, or its products or services, or
ii. The sale or lease of the property on
				which the sign is located, rather than the purpose of general
				advertising.
c. In the
				case of an on-premise sign advertising an activity, the premises must include
				all actual land used or occupied for the activity, including its buildings,
				parking, storage and service areas, streets, driveways and established front,
				rear, and side yards constituting an integral part of such activity, provided
				the sign is located on property under the same ownership or lease as the
				activity. Uses of land that serve no reasonable or integrated purpose related
				to the activity other than to attempt to qualify the land for signing purposes
				are not premises. Generally these will be inexpensive facilities, such as
				picnic grounds, playgrounds, walking paths, or fences.
21."Parkland" means any publicly owned land that is
				  designated or used as a public park, recreation area, wildlife or waterfowl
				  refuge or historic site.
22."Public service signs" means signs that are located on
				  school bus stop shelters and that:
a.
				Identify the donor, sponsor, or contribution of the shelters;
b. Contain safety slogans or messages, which
				must occupy not less than 60% of the area of the sign;
c. Contain no other message;
d. Are located on school bus shelters that
				are authorized or approved by city, county, or state law, regulation, or
				ordinance, and at places approved by the city, county, or state agency
				controlling the highway involved; and
e. May not exceed 32 square feet in area. Not
				more than one sign on each shelter shall face in any one direction.
23."Public utility signs" means warning markers that are
				  customarily erected and maintained by publicly or privately owned public
				  utilities to protect their facilities.
24."Re-erection" means the placing of any sign in a vertical
				  position subsequent to its initial erection. Re-erection shall only occur in
				  the event the sign has been damaged by tortious acts, or in the course of
				  normal maintenance.
25."Scenic area" means any area of particular scenic beauty
				  or historical significance as determined by the federal, state, or local
				  officials having jurisdiction of the area, and includes interests in land that
				  have been acquired for the restoration, preservation, and enhancement of scenic
				  beauty.
26."Scenic overlook or rest area" means an area or site
				  established and maintained within or adjacent to the highway right-of-way by or
				  under public supervision or control for the convenience of the traveling
				  public.
27."Service club and religious notices" means signs and
				  notices, whose erection is authorized by law, relating to meetings of nonprofit
				  service clubs or charitable associations, or religious service, that do not
				  exceed eight square feet in area.
28."V-type signs" means signs that are oriented at an angle
				  to each other, the nearest points of which are not more than 10 feet
				  apart.
29."Within the view of and directed at the main-traveled way"
				  means any sign that is readable from the main-traveled way for more than five
				  seconds traveling at the posted speed limit or for such a time as the whole
				  message can be read, whichever is less.