SHB 1767 -
By Representative Orcutt
NOT CONSIDERED
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 47.42.080 and 2010 c 8 s 10016 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) Any sign erected or maintained contrary to the provisions of
this chapter or rules adopted hereunder that is designed to be viewed
from the interstate system, the primary system, or the scenic system is
a public nuisance, and the department, the chief of the Washington
state patrol, the county sheriff, or the chief of police of any city or
town shall notify the permittee or, if there is no permittee, the owner
of the property on which the sign is located, by certified mail at his
or her last known address, that it constitutes a public nuisance and
must comply with the chapter or be removed.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, if the
permittee or owner, as the case may be, fails to comply with the
chapter or remove any such sign within fifteen days after being
notified to remove the sign, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor. In
addition to the penalties imposed by law upon conviction, an order may
be entered compelling removal of the sign. Each day the sign is
maintained constitutes a separate offense. In lieu of the mandatory
misdemeanor required under this subsection, the department may assess
a civil penalty of one hundred dollars per day until the sign is
brought into compliance with this chapter or removed. The department
may waive any subsequent day's civil penalty amount in the following
circumstances:
(a) The sign is discovered while the owner is out of town; or
(b) Weather or ground conditions exist that make sign removal
prohibitive.
(3) If the permittee or the owner of the property upon which it is
located, as the case may be, is not found or refuses receipt of the
notice, the department, the chief of the Washington state patrol, the
county sheriff, or the chief of police of any city or town shall post
the sign and property upon which it is located with a notice that the
sign constitutes a public nuisance and must be removed. If the sign is
not removed within fifteen days after such posting, the department, the
chief of the Washington state patrol, the county sheriff, or the chief
of police of any city or town shall abate the nuisance and destroy the
sign, and for that purpose may enter upon private property without
incurring liability for doing so.
(4) Nothing in this section may be construed to affect the
provisions contained in RCW 47.42.102 requiring the payment of
compensation upon the removal of any signs compensable under state law.
(5) Any sign erected or maintained on state highway right-of-way
contrary to this chapter or rules adopted under it is a public
nuisance, and the department is authorized to remove any such sign
without notice.
Sec. 2 RCW 47.42.130 and 1999 c 276 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
Every permit issued by the department shall be assigned a separate
identification number, and each permittee shall fasten to each sign a
weatherproof label, not larger than ((sixteen)) twenty-eight square
inches, that shall be furnished by the department and on which shall be
plainly visible the permit number. The permittee shall also place his
or her name in a conspicuous position on the front or back of each
sign. The failure of a sign to have such a label affixed to it is
prima facie evidence that it is not in compliance with the provisions
of this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 RCW 47.42.048 (State and local prohibitions)
and 1974 ex.s. c 80 s 3 are each repealed."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Removes the requirement that WSDOT establish an annual fee for type 4 and 5 sign permits; allows WSDOT to enforce a civil penalty of $100 per day for illegal signs in lieu of the mandatory misdemeanor in RCW 47.42.080; and provides certain conditions in which WSDOT may waive any subsequent day's civil penalty.