[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 23, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 23CFR750.706]

[Page 384-385]
 
                           TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS
 
 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 750--HIGHWAY BEAUTIFICATION--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart G--Outdoor Advertising Control
 
Sec. 750.706  Sign control in zoned and unzoned commercial and industrial areas.

    The following requirements apply to signs located in zoned and 
unzoned commercial and industrial areas within 660 feet of the nearest 
edge of the right-of-way adjacent to the Interstate and Federal-aid 
primary highways.
    (a) The State by law or regulation shall, in conformity with its 
agreement with the Secretary, set criteria for size, lighting, and 
spacing of outdoor advertising signs located in commercial or industrial 
zoned or unzoned areas, as defined in the agreement, adjacent to 
Interstate and Federal-aid primary highways. If the agreement between 
the Secretary and the State includes a grandfather clause, the criteria 
for size, lighting, and spacing will govern only those signs erected 
subsequent to the date specified in the agreement. The States may adopt 
more restrictive criteria than are presently contained in agreements 
with the Secretary.
    (b) Agreement criteria which permit multiple sign structures to be 
considered as one sign for spacing purposes must limit multiple sign 
structures to signs which are physically contiguous, or connected by the 
same structure or cross-bracing, or located not more than 15 feet apart 
at their nearest point in the case of back-to-back or ``V'' type signs.
    (c) Where the agreement and State law permits control by local 
zoning authorities, these controls may govern in lieu of the size, 
lighting, and spacing controls set forth in the agreement, subject to 
the following:
    (1) The local zoning authority's controls must include the 
regulation of size, of lighting and of spacing of outdoor advertising 
signs, in all commercial and industrial zones.
    (2) The regulations established by local zoning authority may be 
either more restrictive or less restrictive than the criteria contained 
in the agreement, unless State law or regulations require equivalent or 
more restrictive local controls.
    (3) If the zoning authority has been delegated, extraterritorial, 
jurisdiction under State law, and exercises control of outdoor 
advertising in commercial and industrial zones within this 
extraterritorial jurisdiction, control by the zoning authority may be 
accepted in lieu of agreement controls in such areas.
    (4) The State shall notify the FHWA in writing of those zoning 
jurisdictions wherein local control applies. It will not be necessary to 
furnish a copy of the zoning ordinance. The State shall periodically 
assure itself that the size, lighting, and spacing control provisions of 
zoning ordinances accepted under this section are actually being 
enforced by the local authorities.
    (5) Nothing contained herein shall relieve the State of the 
responsibility of

[[Page 385]]

limiting signs within controlled areas to commercial and industrial 
zones.