226.520. Permitted signs--specifications. - Missouri Statutes

Permitted signs--specifications.

226.520. On and after March 30, 1972, no outdoor advertising shall beerected or maintained within six hundred sixty feet of the nearest edge of theright-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of any highway which ispart of the federal-aid primary highways as of June 1, 1991, and all highwaysdesignated as part of the National Highway System by the National HighwaySystem Designation Act of 1995 and those highways subsequently designated aspart of the National Highway System in this state except the following:

(1) Directional and other official signs, including, but not limited to,signs pertaining to natural wonders, scenic and historical attractions, whichare required or authorized by law, and which comply with regulations whichshall be promulgated by the* department relative to their lighting, size,number, spacing and such other requirements as may be appropriate to implementsections 226.500 to 226.600, but such regulations shall not be inconsistentwith, nor more restrictive than, such national standards as may be promulgatedfrom time to time by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation of theUnited States, under subsection (c) of Section 131 of Title 23 of the UnitedStates Code;

(2) Signs, displays, and devices advertising activities conducted on theproperty upon which they are located, or services and products thereinprovided;

(3) Outdoor advertising located in areas which are zoned industrial,commercial or the like as provided in sections 226.500 to 226.600 or underother authority of law;

(4) Outdoor advertising located in unzoned commercial or industrialareas as defined and determined pursuant to sections 226.500 to 226.600;

(5) Outdoor advertising for tourist-oriented businesses, and scoreboardsused in sporting events or other electronic signs with changeable messageswhich are not prohibited by federal regulations or local zoning ordinances.Outdoor advertising which is authorized by this subdivision (5) shall only beallowed to the extent that such outdoor advertising is not prohibited by Title23, United States Code, Section 131, as now or thereafter amended, and lawfulregulations promulgated thereunder. The general assembly finds and declaresit to be the policy of the state of Missouri that the tourism industry is ofmajor and critical importance to the economic well-being of the state and thatdirectional signs, displays and devices providing directional informationabout goods and services in the interest of the traveling public are**essential to the economic welfare of the tourism industry. The generalassembly further finds and declares that the removal of directional signsadvertising tourist-oriented businesses is harmful to the tourism industry inMissouri and that the removal of directional signs within or near areas of thestate where there is high concentration of tourist-oriented businesses wouldhave a particularly harmful effect upon the economies within such areas. Thestate highways and transportation commission is authorized and directed todetermine those specific areas of the state of Missouri in which there is highconcentration of tourist-oriented businesses, and within such areas, nodirectional signs, displays and devices which are lawfully erected, which aremaintained in good repair, which provide directional information about goodsand services in the interest of the traveling public, and which wouldotherwise be required to be removed because they are not allowed to bemaintained under the provisions of sections 226.500 through 226.600 shall berequired to be removed until such time as such removal has been finallyordered by the United States Secretary of Transportation;

(6) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to requireremoval of signs advertising churches or items of religious significance,items of native arts and crafts, woodworking in native products, or nativeitems of artistic, historical, geologic significance, or hospitals orairports.

(L. 1965 2d Ex. Sess. p. 900 § 3, A.L. 1972 S.B. 382, A.L. 1976 H.B. 1478, A.L. 1999 S.B. 61)

*Word "the" does not appear in original rolls.

**Word "is" appears in original rolls.

(1993) Where state billboard law prohibits signs in residential areas, the statutory phrase "other authority of law" does not permit local government to permit that which the state forbids. State highway commission had authority to order removal of hospital sign erected under authority of city zoning variance. Subsection 6 of statute does not exempt hospital sign from removal but must be read as grandparenting clause permitting the maintenance and protecting the placement of signs erected prior to 1972. State ex rel. Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission v. Alexian Brothers of St. Louis, Inc., 848 S.W.2d 472 (Mo. en banc).