§ 495. Other regulations applying to permitted signs

(a) No official business directional sign, on-premises sign, residential directional sign, or exempt sign may be erected or maintained, along a highway and visible from the highway, that:

(1) Interferes with, imitates or resembles any official traffic control sign, signal or device, or attempts or appears to attempt to direct the movement of traffic.

(2) Prevents the driver of a motor vehicle from having a clear and unobstructed view of official traffic control signs and approaching or merging traffic.

(3) Contains, includes, or is illuminated by any flashing intermittent or moving lights, or moves or has any animated or moving parts, except that this restriction shall not apply to a traffic control sign, barber poles, theatre marquees that are determined by the Travel Information Council to contribute to the historic significance of a building listed, or eligible for listing, in the national register of historic places and that are operated in accordance with any conditions prescribed by the travel information council, or signs of a public service nature as determined by the Travel Information Council.

(4) Has any lighting, unless such lighting is so effectively shielded as to prevent beams or rays of light from being directed at any portion of the main travelled way of a highway, or is of such low intensity or brilliance as not to cause glare or to impair the vision of the driver of any motor vehicle or otherwise to interfere with the operation thereof.

(5) Is located upon a tree, or painted or drawn upon a rock or other natural feature, except that this restriction shall not apply to residential directional signs.

(6) Advertises or calls attention to a business or other activity, or a profession, commodity, product, service, or entertainment not carried on, produced, sold, or offered in this State, or to an activity of any kind which has already occurred or has otherwise terminated.

(7) Is in violation of or at variance with any federal law or regulation, including one containing or providing for conditions to or affecting the allocation of federal highway or other funds to or for the benefit of this State or any subdivision thereof.

(b) No on-premises or exempt sign may be erected if it is so located as to be readable primarily from a limited access facility.

(c) No on-premises sign, residential directional, or exempt sign may be erected or maintained that:

(1) Advertises activities that are illegal under any State or federal law applicable at the location of the sign or of the activities.

(2) Is not clean or in good repair.

(3) Is not securely affixed to a substantial structure.

(4) Is not consistent with the standards in this chapter or regulations of the Travel Information Council.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, a person, firm, or corporation shall not erect or maintain any outdoor advertising structure, device, or display within the limits of the highway right-of-way; however, this limitation shall not apply to the signs and devices referred to in subdivisions 494(1), (2), (3), (6), (7), (10), (14), and (17) of this title.

(e) Except on those highways maintained exclusively by the Agency of Transportation and on limited access facilities, the limitation established by subsection (d) of this section shall not apply to the signs and devices referred to in subdivisions 494(9) and (11) of this title.

(f) Except on limited access facilities, the limitation established by subsection (d) of this section shall not apply to the signs referred to in subdivision 494(18) of this title. (Added 1967, No. 333 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. March 23, 1968; amended 1969, No. 92, § 17, eff. April 19, 1969; 1977, No. 13; 1983, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 10, 11; 1985, No. 97, eff. May 30, 1985; 1991, No. 220 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1993, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 1997, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 1999, No. 18, § 41h, eff. May 13, 1999; 2019, No. 50, § 2.)