(a) The department may issue written permits, as provided in this chapter, authorizing the permittee to do any of the following acts:

(1) Make an opening or excavation for any purpose in any state highway.

(2) Place, change, or renew an encroachment.

(3) Place or display in, under, or over any state highway any advertising sign or device. Any advertising sign or device placed or displayed in violation of this section is a public nuisance and the department may immediately remove it. This section does not prohibit the posting of any notice in the manner required by law or by the order of any court.

(4) Plant, remove, cut, cut down, injure, or destroy any tree, shrub, plant, or flower growing within any state highway. However, the department shall not issue a permit for, or take any other action to accomplish, the destruction, removal, or topping of any tree, unless the tree is dead or diseased, for the purpose of improving or enhancing the view from the highway of an advertising sign or device or any commercial activity, unless, for any project whose cost is more than five hundred dollars ($500), the permittee has obtained consent from the city or county in which the tree is located. Nothing in this paragraph limits the department’s authority to modify or deny any permittee’s request. If the city or county does not respond within 30 days to a request for a permit pursuant to this paragraph, the city or county is deemed to have given consent to the project.

(5) Install or remove tire chains upon motor vehicles for compensation on any state highway at locations designated in the permit, upon any terms and conditions relating to the safe and orderly movement of traffic that the department finds necessary. The department may issue sufficient permits for the installation or removal of tire chains that it finds necessary or desirable to accommodate the demand for those services consistent with the maximum convenience and safety to traffic. The department, in issuing any permit for the installation or removal of tire chains, shall assume no responsibility for the competence or reliability of the permittee in performing those services.

(b) Any person who does any act specified in this section without a permit is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 1241, Sec. 4.5. Effective January 1, 1993.)