AN ACT Relating to specific information panels; and amending RCW 47.42.020 and 47.42.047.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 2, chapter 96, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 2, chapter 376, Laws of 1985 and RCW 47.42.020 are each amended to read as follows:

The definitions set forth in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Department" means the Washington state department of transportation.

(2) "Erect" means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish.

(3) "Interstate system" means any state highway which is or does become part of the national system of interstate and defense highways as described in section 103(d) of title 23, United States Code.

(4) "Maintain" means to allow to exist.

(5) "Person" means this state or any public or private corporation, firm, partnership, association, as well as any individual or individuals.

(6) "Primary system" means any state highway which is or does become part of the federal-aid primary system as described in section 103(b) of title 23, United States Code.

(7) "Scenic system" means (a) any state highway within any public park, federal forest area, public beach, public recreation area, or national monument, (b) any state highway or portion thereof outside the boundaries of any incorporated city or town designated by the legislature as a part of the scenic system, or (c) any state highway or portion thereof outside the boundaries of any incorporated city or town designated by the legislature as a part of the scenic and recreational highway system except for the sections of highways specifically excluded in RCW 47.42.025.

(8) "Sign" means any outdoor sign, display, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other thing that is designed, intended, or used to advertise or inform, any part of the advertising or informative contents of which is visible from any place on the main-traveled way of the interstate system or other state highway.

(9) "Commercial and industrial areas" means any area zoned commercial or industrial by a county or municipal code, or if unzoned by a county or municipal code, that area occupied by three or more separate and distinct commercial or industrial activities, or any combination thereof, within a space of five hundred feet and the area within five hundred feet of such activities on both sides of the highway. The area shall be measured from the outer edges of the regularly used buildings, parking lots, or storage or processing areas of the commercial or industrial activity and not from the property lines of the parcels upon which the activities are located. Measurements shall be along or parallel to the edge of the main traveled way of the highway. The following shall not be considered commercial or industrial activities:

(a) Agricultural, forestry, grazing, farming, and related activities, including, but not limited to, wayside fresh produce stands;

(b) Transient or temporary activities;

(d) Signs;

(e) Activities more than six hundred and sixty feet from the nearest edge of the right of way;

(f) Activities conducted in a building principally used as a residence.

If any commercial or industrial activity that has been used in defining or delineating an unzoned area ceases to operate for a period of six continuous months, any signs located within the former unzoned area become nonconforming and shall not be maintained by any person.

(10) "Specific information panel" means a panel, rectangular in shape, located in the same manner as other official traffic signs readable from the main traveled ways, and consisting of:

(a) The words "GAS," "FOOD," ((or)) "RECREATION," "LODGING," or "BOARDING KENNEL" and directional information; and

(b) One or more individual business signs mounted on the panel.

(11) "Business sign" means a separately attached sign mounted on the specific information panel or roadside area information panel to show the brand or trademark and name, or both, of the motorist service available on the crossroad at or near the interchange. Nationally, regionally, or locally known commercial symbols or trademarks for service stations, restaurants, ((~~and~~)) motels, and boarding kennels shall be used when applicable. The brand or trademark identification symbol used on the business sign shall be reproduced with the colors and general shape consistent with customary use. Any messages, trademarks, or brand symbols which interfere with, imitate, or resemble any official warning or regulatory traffic sign, signal, or device are prohibited.

(12) "Roadside area information panel or display" means a panel or display located so as not to be readable from the main traveled way, erected in a safety rest area, scenic overlook, or similar roadside area, for providing motorists with information in the specific interest of the traveling public.

(13) "Tourist-oriented directional sign" means a sign on a specific information panel on the state highway system to provide directional information to a qualified tourist-oriented business, service, or activity.

(14) "Qualified tourist-oriented business" means any lawful cultural, historical, recreational, educational, or entertaining activity or a unique or unusual commercial or nonprofit activity, the major portion of whose income or visitors are derived during its normal business season from motorists not residing in the immediate area of the activity.

(15) "Temporary agricultural directional sign" means a sign on private property adjacent to state highway right of way to provide directional information to places of business offering for sale seasonal agricultural products harvested or produced on the property where the sale is taking place.

Sec. 2. Section 4, chapter 80, Laws of 1974 ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 114, Laws of 1986 and RCW 47.42.047 are each amended to read as follows:

The department is authorized to erect and maintain specific information panels within the right of way of both the primary system and the scenic system to give the traveling public specific information as to gas, food, recreation, or lodging available off the primary or scenic highway accessible by way of highways intersecting the primary or scenic highway. Such specific information panels and tourist-oriented directional signs shall be permitted only at locations within the corporate limits of cities and towns and areas zoned for commercial or industrial uses where there is adequate distance between interchanges to ensure compliance with the provisions of Title 23 C.F.R. secs. 655.308(a) and 655.309(a). Specific information panels shall include the words "GAS," "FOOD," "RECREATION," ((or)) "LODGING," or "BOARDING KENNEL" and directional information and may contain one or more individual business signs maintained on the panel. The erection and maintenance of specific information panels along primary or scenic highways 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 including the manual on uniform traffic control devices for streets and highways. 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 adopt rules for the erection and maintenance of tourist-oriented directional signs with the following restrictions:

(1) Where installed, they shall be placed in advance of the "GAS," "FOOD," "RECREATION," ((or)) "LODGING," or "BOARDING KENNEL" specific information panels previously described in this section;

(2) Signs shall not be placed to direct a motorist to an activity visible from the main traveled roadway;

(3) Premises on which the qualified tourist-oriented business is located must be within fifteen miles of the state highway, and necessary supplemental signing on local roads must be provided before the installation of the signs on the state highway.

The department shall charge reasonable fees for the display of individual business signs to defray the costs of their installation and maintenance.