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ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5605
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Ecology & Parks (originally sponsored by Senators Fraser, Prentice and Prince)
Read first time 03/03/93.
AN ACT Relating to roadside improvements; amending RCW 47.36.310; and adding a new section to chapter 47.40 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 47.40 RCW to read as follows:
The highway heritage account is created in the transportation fund. Revenue from this account shall be appropriated to the department of transportation and shall be used exclusively for grants to public agencies and private nonprofit organizations (1) to allow citizens to participate in comprehensive highway corridor programs, or (2) for projects that preserve, enhance, provide information about, or improve access to scenic, historical, or cultural features along state highways and county roads. Use of this revenue to match federal or local revenue available for purposes described in this section is a high priority.
Sec. 2. RCW 47.36.310 and 1987 c 469 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
The department is authorized to erect and maintain specific information panels within the right of way of the interstate highway system to give the traveling public specific information as to gas, food, or lodging available on a crossroad at or near an interchange. Specific information panels shall include the words "GAS," "FOOD," or "LODGING" and directional information and may contain one or more individual business signs maintained on the panel. Specific information panels are authorized within the corporate limits of cities and towns and areas zoned for commercial or industrial uses at locations where there is adequate distance between interchanges to ensure compliance with the provisions of Title 23 C.F.R. sec. 655.307(a). The erection and maintenance of specific information panels shall conform to the national standards promulgated by the United States secretary of transportation pursuant to sections 131 and 315 of Title 23, United States Code and rules adopted by the state department of transportation. A motorist service business located within one mile of a state highway shall not be permitted to display its name, brand, or trademark on a specific information panel unless its owner has first entered into an agreement with the department limiting the height of its on-premise signs at the site of its service installation to not more than fifteen feet higher than the roof of its main building. The department shall charge reasonable fees for the display of individual business signs to defray the costs of their installation and maintenance. In addition, businesses shall pay an annual fee of fifty dollars per mainline sign before an interchange to be deposited in the highway heritage account created in section 1 of this act. The restriction for on-premise signs shall not apply if the sign is not visible from the highway. The department may, on a case-by-case basis, waive the height restriction when an on-premise sign is visible from the rural interstate system.
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