Bill Text: TX SB898 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the relocation, adjustment, and ownership of commercial and outdoor signs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-01 - Referred to Transportation [SB898 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB898-Introduced.html
88R4273 AJZ-F | ||
By: Hughes | S.B. No. 898 |
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relating to the relocation, adjustment, and ownership of commercial | ||
and outdoor signs. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 391, Transportation Code, | ||
is amended by adding Sections 391.0331 and 391.037 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 391.0331. RELOCATION BECAUSE OF HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION, | ||
PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, OR PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT. (a) If a commercial | ||
sign use, structure, or permit may not be continued because of the | ||
widening, construction, or reconstruction of a highway, the | ||
installation, expansion, or construction of public infrastructure, | ||
or the undertaking of a public improvement project by a public | ||
improvement district, the owner of the commercial sign is entitled | ||
to relocate the use, structure, or permit to another location: | ||
(1) on the same property; | ||
(2) on adjacent property; | ||
(3) on the same highway not more than one mile from the | ||
previous location; or | ||
(4) if the commercial sign is within a municipality or | ||
the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, within that | ||
municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. | ||
(b) Relocation under this section shall be to a location | ||
where a commercial sign is permitted under Section 391.031. | ||
(c) The county or municipality in which the use or structure | ||
is located shall, if necessary, provide for the relocation by a | ||
special exception to any applicable zoning ordinance. | ||
(d) Any governmental entity, quasi-governmental entity, or | ||
public utility that acquires a commercial sign by eminent domain or | ||
causes the need for the commercial sign to be relocated under this | ||
section shall pay the costs related to the acquisition or | ||
relocation. | ||
Sec. 391.037. OBSTRUCTION OF VIEW AND READABILITY. (a) If | ||
the view and readability of a commercial sign are obstructed due to | ||
a noise abatement or safety measure, a grade change, vegetation, | ||
construction, an aesthetic improvement made by an agency of this | ||
state, a directional sign, or widening along a highway, the owner of | ||
the sign may: | ||
(1) adjust the height of the sign; or | ||
(2) relocate the sign to a location within 500 feet of | ||
its previous location, if the sign complies with the spacing | ||
requirements under this chapter and is in a location in which a | ||
commercial sign is permitted under Section 391.031. | ||
(b) A county or municipality in which the commercial sign is | ||
located shall, if necessary, provide for the height adjustment or | ||
relocation by a special exception to any applicable zoning | ||
ordinance. | ||
(c) Notwithstanding any height requirements established | ||
under this subtitle, the adjusted or relocated commercial sign may | ||
be erected to a height and angle to make it clearly visible to | ||
traffic on the main-traveled way of the highway and must be the same | ||
size as the previous sign. | ||
SECTION 2. Subtitle H, Title 6, Transportation Code, is | ||
amended by adding Chapter 398 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 398. PROVISIONS GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO OUTDOOR SIGNS | ||
Sec. 398.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "off-premise | ||
sign" means an outdoor sign displaying advertising that pertains to | ||
a business, person, organization, activity, event, place, service, | ||
or product not principally located or primarily manufactured or | ||
sold on the premises on which the sign is located. | ||
Sec. 398.002. RIGHTS OF OWNER OF CERTAIN SIGNS. The rights | ||
associated with an off-premise sign that is lawfully in existence | ||
but no longer complies with current applicable laws and | ||
regulations, including laws and regulations promulgated under | ||
Chapters 391 and 394 of this code, and Chapter 216, Local Government | ||
Code, vest in the owner of the off-premise sign. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |