Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 761 - Transportation Department › Right-of-way and Environment › Chapter 117 - Outdoor Advertising › Rule 761-117.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
The definitions in Iowa Code section
				  306C.10 are adopted.
				  In addition:
"Abandoned sign"
means an advertising device
				  for which the owner has failed to timely apply for the required outdoor
				  advertising permit(s) or has failed to timely pay the required fee(s).
"Area zoned and used for commercial or industrial
				  purposes"
means an area zoned for commercial or industrial purposes in
				  accordance with Iowa Code chapter 414, in the case of city zoning, or in
				  accordance with Iowa Code chapter 335, in the case of county zoning, in which
				  one or more commercial or industrial activities, as defined under the city or
				  county zoning ordinance, are located.
"Billboard control Act"
means Iowa Code
				  chapter 306C, division II.
"Bonus Act"
means Iowa Code chapter
				  306B.
"Daylight area"
means a triangular area
				  formed by a line connecting two points each back (50 feet in city, 100 feet in
				  unincorporated area) from the point where the right-of-way lines of the main
				  traveled way and an intersecting street meet or would meet if extended.
"Destroyed"
means that at least 60 percent
				  of the supports are broken, if wooden, or broken, bent or twisted, if metal,
				  such that normal repair practices would call for the replacement of the damaged
				  supports.
"Face"
means that part of an advertising
				  device that is devoted to the display of advertising and that is visible to
				  traffic proceeding in any one direction.
"Interchange"
means the entire area
				  constructed for a junction of two or more public streets or highways by a
				  system of separate levels that permit traffic to pass from one level to another
				  without the crossing of traffic streams. This includes all acceleration and
				  deceleration lanes constructed to accommodate this movement of traffic.
"Lease"
means an agreement, oral or written,
				  by which possession or use of land or interests therein are given by the owner
				  or other person to another person for a specified purpose.
"LED display"
means a face, as defined
				  herein, displaying a message that is formed by light emitting diodes and that
				  is changed by an electronic process. An LED display is a single face.
"Modification"
means any addition to or
				  change in dimensions, lighting, structure or advertising face, except as
				  incidental to the customary maintenance of an advertising device.
1. A change in the number or type of support posts is a
				  modification. A change in dimensions is a modification. However, the addition
				  of extensions or cutouts, including forward projecting, is not a modification
				  if the extensions or cutouts are added for a period of 90 days or less and if
				  they are illuminated only by existing sign lighting and do not contain internal
				  lighting.
2. A lawful change in advertising message is not a
				  modification. The use of a vinyl overlay or wrap on either a poster panel or
				  paint unit is a change in advertising message, not a modification.
3. On an advertising device that conforms to all current
				  requirements, the replacement of one metal-framed face with another
				  metal-framed face of the same size, using dissimilar component parts or
				  assembly methods, or both, is not a modification.
4. The addition of LED display capabilities to an advertising
				  device is a modification.
5. The elimination of trim surrounding the area used for
				  advertising copy is not a modification, provided the advertising copy retains
				  the same dimensions as the original advertising copy.
"Nonconforming sign"
means an advertising
				  device that was lawfully erected and continues to be lawfully maintained, but
				  that does not comply with current requirements due to changed conditions, such
				  as a change in zoning, establishment of a new highway, or a similar change that
				  affects compliance.
"Regularly used"
means open for business and
				  staffed by an owner or employee for at least 20 hours per week, on property
				  assessed as commercial or industrial by the jurisdiction having authority; the
				  hours of operation must be visibly posted on the premises. The department may
				  delay action on the permit application for up to 180 days from the date of the
				  application in order to conduct periodic checks on the site as necessary to
				  determine whether the purported commercial or industrial activity meets this
				  definition. A rental storage business is excepted from the staffing requirement
				  if it has 24-hour access for customers and a minimum of 50 units, each
				  occupying at least 50 square feet, individually separated, and enclosed by
				  walls.
"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. It includes real property
				  interests that have been acquired for the restoration, preservation and
				  enhancement of scenic beauty.
"Tri-face device"
means an advertising
				  device with three singular faces attached to one common structure in a
				  triangular configuration. The maximum area of any face is 750 square feet. The
				  inside angle formed by any two faces may not exceed 60 degrees.
"Tri-vision device"
means an advertising
				  device that has an advertising face with a mechanical device that allows three
				  advertising messages to be alternately visible to traffic proceeding in any one
				  direction. Each message is attached to individual vertical or horizontal
				  louvers, which are mechanically rotated to change the message.
"Widening"
means the point at which it is
				  detectable that a deceleration or exit ramp is beginning to form alongside the
				  main traveled way, or an acceleration or merging ramp has tapered to a close
				  alongside the main traveled way. In the case where an entrance ramp becomes an
				  auxiliary lane and the auxiliary lane becomes an exit ramp at the adjacent
				  interchange, the widening shall be the point at which a deceleration ramp
				  completely separates from the main traveled way as evidenced by the inside lane
				  marking of such ramp, or an acceleration ramp joins with the main traveled way
				  as evidenced by the inside lane marking of the ramp intersecting with the
				  outside lane marking of the main traveled way.