Bill Text: WV HB4388 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Exempt non-profits from certain road sign fees
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-25 - To House Finance [HB4388 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2022-HB4388-Introduced.html
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2022 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 4388
By Delegates Statler and Summers
[Introduced January 25, 2022; Referred to the Committee on Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17-22-13 and §17-22-15 of Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to exempting nonprofit organizations from the fee requirements for obtaining a license or permit for outdoor advertising.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 22. OUTDOOR ADVERTISING.
§17-22-13. Licenses required; application; expiration; exceptions; revocations; judicial review.
(a) No person shall engage or continue in the business of outdoor advertising in this state without first obtaining a license for outdoor advertising 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 a license from the commissioner.
(b) The commissioner shall charge an annual license fee in the amount of $125, payable in advance, for licensees obtaining up to 20 permits. Licensees, including subsidiaries and affiliates, obtaining 21 or more permits shall pay an annual fee of $1,000, payable in advance.
(c) The commissioner shall not require a nonprofit organization to pay an annual license fee. Any nonprofit organization that seeks a license shall provide all information and in the manner prescribed by subsection (d).
(d) Applications for licenses, or renewal of licenses, shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner and shall contain any pertinent information required by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by the annual fee, if one is required. Licenses granted under this section expire on June 30 of each year and shall not be prorated. Applications for the renewal of licenses shall be made not less than 30 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 on-premise sign, display or device solely on his or her own property at the location of the advertised business and within limitations established in rules authorized by section eleven of this article and promulgated in accordance with state law.
(e) The Commissioner of Highways, in his or her discretion, may propose for promulgation an emergency rule as provided in §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code that clarifies, explains or implements limitations or restrictions on the construction, erection, operation, use and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays and devices. With the prior written approval of the Commissioner of Highways, a county commission may enact and enforce outdoor advertising ordinances which place limitations or restrictions on outdoor advertising signs, displays or devices which are in addition to or more restrictive than the limitations or restrictions provided by the Commissioner of Highways in the emergency rule on this subject.
(f) The commissioner may, after 30 days’ notice in writing to the licensee, make and enter an order revoking any license granted by him or her upon repayment of a proportionate part of the license fee, in any case where he or she finds 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 the licensee, before the expiration of said 30 days, corrects the false or misleading information and complies with the provisions of this article. The order shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the order was made and entered. Any person adversely affected by an order made and entered by the commissioner is entitled to judicial review of the order. The judicial review shall be in the circuit court for the county in which the owner of the sign has his or her principal place of business in this state, or in the circuit court of Kanawha County if all parties agree. The judgment of the circuit court is 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 or her 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; exceptions; 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 for the advertising sign, display or device from the commissioner and paying the annual fee for the advertising sign, display or device as provided in this section. The commissioner shall not issue 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. the The
application shall be signed by the applicant or his or her 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 $500, 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 $20 for each advertising sign, display or
device, which shall be retained by the commissioner if the permit is issued. In
addition, a nonrefundable inspection fee of $75 shall be charged for each
proposed location along interstate and federal-aid primary highways. A
nonrefundable inspection fee of $25 shall be charged for each proposed location
along all other public roads. An annual permit renewal fee, not to exceed $60
per permit, 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 $25 per permit annually. Each portion of an advertising sign
upon which a display is posted or exhibited constitutes 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 the
order to be served on the applicant by certified mail, return receipt
requested, and shall refund one-half the fee to the applicant. The order shall
be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which the order
was made and entered. Each application shall be accompanied by an affidavit of
the applicant or his or her agent that the owner or other person in control or
possession of the real property upon which the advertising sign, display or
device is to be constructed, erected, operated, used or maintained has
consented to having the advertising sign, display or device on his or her
property. Application shall be made in like manner for a permit to operate, use
or maintain any existing advertising sign, display or device. Permits issued
under this section expire on June 30 of each year and shall not be prorated and
may be renewed upon the payment of a renewal fee as provided in this section.
No application is required for a renewal of a permit.
(c) Notwithstanding the language in subsection (b), the commissioner shall not require a a nonprofit organization pay a permit fee, inspection fee, or renewal fee. A non-profit organization is still required to furnish all applications and information required by the commissioner for the permitting process.
(c) (d) 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 side is 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) (e) The holder of a permit, during the term of
the permit, has the right to change the advertising copy of the structure or
sign for which it was issued without payment of any additional fee.
(e) (f) The commissioner may, after 30 days’ notice in
writing to the permittee, make and enter an order revoking any permit issued by
him or her 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 the
permittee shall, before the expiration of the 30 days, correct the false or
misleading information and comply with the provisions of this article. The
order shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law upon
which the 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
provided for in this section is 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 the advertising sign, display
or device shall be returned by the commissioner and the permit revoked. But
one-half the fee shall be considered 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 or her representatives.
(f) (g) 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 of the order. The judicial review shall be: (1) In
the county in which the person applying for the permit has his or her 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. The judgment of the
circuit court is 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 or her 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt nonprofit organizations from paying fees for outdoor advertising.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
