54-21-122 - Changeable message signs.
54-21-122. Changeable message signs.
(a) Changeable message signs may be double faced, back to back or V- type signs.
(b) Changeable message signs with a digital display that meet all other requirements pursuant to this chapter are permissible subject to the following restrictions:
(1) The message display time shall remain static for a minimum of eight (8) seconds with a maximum change time of two (2) seconds;
(2) Video, continuous scrolling messages and animation are prohibited; and
(3) The minimum spacing of the changeable message signs with a digital display on the interstate system or controlled access highways is two thousand feet (2,000¢); provided, however, that an outdoor advertising device that uses only a small digital display, not to exceed one hundred square feet (100 sq. ft.) in total area, to give public information, such as time, date, temperature or weather, or to provide the price of a product, the amount of a lottery prize or similar numerical information supplementing the content of a message otherwise displayed on the sign face shall not be subject to the minimum spacing requirement established in this subdivision (b)(3), or to any application for a specific digital display permit or permit addendum as established in subsections (c) and (d), or to any fee for a permit addendum as established in § 54-21-104(b).
(c) No person shall erect, operate, use or maintain a changeable message sign with a digital display in a new location without first obtaining a permit and tag expressly authorizing a changeable message sign with a digital display, and annually renewing the permit and tag, as provided in § 54-21-104. No outdoor advertising device with a digital display lawfully permitted, erected and in operation prior to June 1, 2008, shall be required to obtain any additional permit under this subsection (c).
(d) No person shall erect, operate, use or maintain a changeable message sign with a digital display in place of or as an addition to any existing permitted outdoor advertising device without first obtaining, and annually renewing with the permit, an addendum to the permit expressly authorizing a changeable message sign with a digital display in that location. No outdoor advertising device with a digital display lawfully permitted, erected and in operation prior to June 1, 2008, shall be required to obtain any addendum under this subsection (d).
(e) The commissioner shall under no circumstances permit or authorize any person to erect, operate, use or maintain a changeable message sign of any type as a replacement for or as an addition to any nonconforming outdoor advertising device or in any nonconforming location.
(f) Notwithstanding any other state law or regulation to the contrary, a person who is granted a permit or an addendum to a permit authorizing a changeable message sign with a digital display in accordance with subsection (c) or (d) shall have up to, but no more than, one hundred eighty (180) calendar days after the date on which the permit or addendum is granted within which to erect and begin displaying an outdoor advertising message on the changeable message sign. If the permitted or authorized changeable message sign with a digital display is not erected and displaying a message within this required time, the permit or addendum to the permit shall be revoked and the changeable message sign with the digital display shall be removed by the applicant or subject to removal by the commissioner as provided in § 54-21-105.
(g) Any application for a permit or addendum for a digital display as described in this section may be made using the form for an application for permit for an outdoor advertising device existing on June 1, 2008, until a separate form is available.
[Acts 2007, ch. 76, § 2; 2008, ch. 1155, §§ 3, 4.]