Senate Bill No. 675
(By Senators Ross and Love)
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[Introduced February 23, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17-22-13, §17-22-15 and §17-22-16 of
the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to
the issuance of licenses and permits for outdoor advertising
signs; increasing fees for licenses and permits; and
establishing fees for inspections of signs and sign locations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17-22-13, §17-22-15 and §17-22-16 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 22. OUTDOOR ADVERTISING.
§17-22-13. Licenses required; application; expiration; exceptions;
revocations; judicial review.
No person shall engage or continue in the business of outdoor
advertising in this state without first obtaining a license
therefor from the commissioner; and no person shall construct, erect, operate, use, maintain, lease or sell any outdoor
advertising sign, display, or device in this state without first
obtaining
such a license from the commissioner.
The fee for such
license, hereby imposed for revenue for the use of the state, shall
be one hundred dollars per annum, payable annually in advance. A
license fee in the amount of one hundred twenty-five dollars per
annum, payable in advance, shall be charged licensees obtaining up
to twenty permits. Licensees, including subsidiaries and
affiliates, obtaining twenty-one or more permits shall pay a fee of
one thousand dollars per annum, payable in advance. Applications
for licenses, or renewal of licenses, shall be made on forms
furnished by the commissioner and shall contain such pertinent
information as the commissioner may require, and shall be
accompanied by the annual fee. Licenses granted under this section
shall expire on the thirtieth day of June of each year, and shall
not be prorated. Applications for the renewal of licenses shall be
made not less than thirty days prior to the date of expiration.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any person to
obtain a license who constructs, erects, operates, uses or
maintains an outdoor advertising sign, display, or device solely on
his own property.
The commissioner shall have authority, after thirty days'
notice in writing to the licensee, to make and enter an order
revoking any license granted by him upon repayment of a proportionate part of the license fee, in any case where he shall
find that any material information required to be given in the
application for the license is knowingly false or misleading or
that the licensee has violated any of the provisions of this
article, unless such licensee shall, before the expiration of said
thirty days, correct such false or misleading information and
comply with the provisions of this article. Such order shall be
accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which
such order was made and entered. Any person adversely affected by
an order made and entered by the commissioner is entitled to
judicial review thereof. Such judicial review shall be in the
circuit court for the county in which the owner of such sign has
his principal place of business in this state, or in the circuit
court of Kanawha county if all parties agree thereto. The judgment
of the circuit court shall be final unless reversed, vacated or
modified on appeal to the supreme court of appeals of West
Virginia. Legal counsel and services for the commissioner in
appeal proceedings in any circuit court and the supreme court of
appeals shall be provided by the attorney general or his
assistants, and in appeal proceedings in any circuit court by the
prosecuting attorney of the county as well, all without additional
compensation. The commissioner may employ special counsel to
represent the commissioner in a particular proceeding.
§17-22-15. Permit required for each sign, etc.; applications; refusal of permits; expiration and renewal; change
of advertising copy; revocation; fee; judicial
review.
(a) Except as in this article otherwise provided, no person
shall construct, erect, operate, use, maintain, or cause or permit
to be constructed, erected, operated, used or maintained any
advertising sign, display, or device without first obtaining a
permit therefor from the commissioner and paying the annual fee
therefor, as herein provided. The commissioner shall not issue
such a permit to any person who has not obtained the license
provided for in section thirteen of this article.
(b) A separate application for a permit shall be made for each
separate advertising sign, display, or device, on a form furnished
by the commissioner, which application shall be signed by the
applicant or his representative duly authorized in writing to act
for him,
or her and shall describe and set forth the size, shape
and the nature of the proposed advertising sign, display, or
device, and its actual or proposed location with sufficient
accuracy to enable the commissioner to locate and identify it.
Every application for a changeable message sign shall be
accompanied by a fee of five hundred dollars, which shall be
retained by the commissioner if the permit is issued. Every
application
for all other signs shall be accompanied by a fee of
one dollar twenty dollars for each advertising sign, display, or device, which fee shall be retained by the commissioner if the
permit is issued.
In addition, a nonrefundable inspection fee of
seventy-five dollars shall be charged for each proposed location
along interstate and federal-aid primary highways. A nonrefundable
inspection fee of twenty-five dollars shall be charged for each
proposed location along all other public roads. A permit renewal
fee, not to exceed sixty dollars per permit per annum, shall be
charged for renewal of each changeable message sign. Permit
renewal fees for all other signs shall be established by
legislative rule not to exceed twenty-five dollars per permit per
annum. Each portion of an advertising sign upon which a display is
posted or exhibited shall constitute a separate advertising sign
for purposes of this section. If the permit is refused, the
commissioner shall make and enter an order to that effect and shall
cause a copy of such order to be served on such applicant by
certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall refund one half
the fee to the applicant. Such order shall be accompanied by
findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which such order was
made and entered. Each application shall be accompanied by an
affidavit of the applicant or his agent that the owner or other
person in control or possession of the real property upon which
such advertising sign, display, or device is to be constructed,
erected, operated, used or maintained, has consented thereto.
Application shall be made in like manner for a permit to operate, use or maintain any existing advertising sign, display or device.
Permits issued hereunder shall expire on the thirtieth day of June
of each year, and shall not be prorated, and may be renewed upon
the payment of
the same fee required to be paid upon application
for a permit a renewal fee as provided in this section. No
application shall be required for a renewal of a permit.
(c)
For all signs other than changeable message signs, if more
than one side of an advertising sign is used for advertising, a
permit application or renewal fee for each such side shall be
required.
One permit application or renewal fee shall be charged
for each changeable message sign. Advertisements sculptured in the
round shall be treated as using three sides.
(d) The holder of a permit shall, during the term thereof,
have the right to change the advertising copy of the structure or
sign for which it was issued without payment of any additional fee.
(e) The commissioner shall have authority, after thirty days'
notice in writing to the permittee, to make and enter an order
revoking any permit issued by him under this section upon repayment
of a proportionate part of the fee in any case where it shall
appear to the commissioner that the application for the permit
contains knowingly false or misleading information or that the
permittee has violated any of the provisions of this article,
unless such permittee shall, before the expiration of said thirty
days, correct such false or misleading information and comply with the provisions of this article. Such order shall be accompanied by
findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which such order was
made and entered. If the construction, erection, operation, use or
maintenance of any advertising sign, display, or device for which
a permit is issued by the commissioner and the permit fee has been
paid as above provided, shall be prevented by any zoning board,
commission or other public agency which also has jurisdiction over
the proposed advertising sign, display, or device, or its site, the
fee for such advertising sign, display, or device shall be returned
by the commissioner and the permit revoked. But one half the fee
shall be deemed to have accrued upon the erection of an advertising
sign or structure or the display of advertising material followed
by any inspection by the commissioner or his representatives.
(f) Any person adversely affected by an order made and entered
by the commissioner refusing to grant or revoking a permit is
entitled to judicial review thereof. Such judicial review shall
be: (1) In the county in which the person applying for the permit
has his principal place of business in this state; or (2) in the
circuit court for the county in which the sign for which the permit
is sought is to be located; or (3) in the circuit court of Kanawha
county if all parties agree thereto. The judgment of the circuit
court shall be final unless reversed, vacated or modified on appeal
to the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia. Legal counsel
and services for the commissioner in appeal proceedings in any circuit court and the supreme court of appeals shall be provided by
the attorney general or his assistants, and in appeal proceedings
in any circuit court by the prosecuting attorney of the county as
well, all without additional compensation. The commissioner may
employ special counsel to represent the commissioner in a
particular proceeding.
§17-22-16. Permit identification number for signs; fastening to
signs.
Every permit issued by the commissioner shall be assigned a
separate identification number, and it shall be the duty of each
permittee to fasten to each advertising sign or device and each
advertising display not posted on an advertising sign a label or
marker not larger than two inches by six inches, which shall be
furnished by the commissioner, and on which shall be plainly
visible the said permit number, the expiration date of the permit,
and the name of the permittee.
Permittees shall be charged five
dollars for each label or marker issued. The construction,
erection, operation, use or maintenance of an outdoor advertising
sign, display, or device without having affixed thereto such a
label or marker shall be prima facie evidence that the same has
been constructed or erected and is being operated, used or
maintained in violation of the provisions of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow revenues from outdoor advertising to cover a greater percentage of the cost of
administering and enforcing outdoor advertising regulations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.