(a)

(1) Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall construct, erect, operate, use, maintain, or cause or permit to be constructed, erected, operated, used, or maintained, any outdoor advertising within six hundred sixty feet (660′) of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of the interstate or primary highway systems without first obtaining from the commissioner a permit and tag.

(2) If an existing outdoor advertising device was not subject to this chapter when it was erected but is subsequently made subject to this chapter by a federal law or action that adds a highway or section of a highway to the interstate or primary highway systems, such outdoor advertising device shall be required to obtain a permit and tag from the commissioner as provided in subdivision (b)(2).

(b)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b)(2), permits and tags shall not be issued until applications are made in accordance with and on forms provided by the commissioner and accompanied by payment of a fee of two hundred dollars ($200) for each permit and tag requested. This fee shall represent payment for the required tag and for the first annual permit and shall not be subject to return upon rejection of any application. The commissioner shall use best efforts to process an application for a permit, in accordance with the rules of the department of transportation, within no greater than sixty (60) days after a completed application is received. If the application is incomplete or defective on its face, the commissioner shall notify an applicant in writing no later than fifteen (15) days of receipt of the filed application of its incomplete or defective status, and indicate the information or documentation that is needed to complete or correct the application. If a decision either to issue or deny the permit cannot be made within sixty (60) days after receipt of the completed or corrected application, the commissioner shall contact the applicant prior to the expiration of the sixty (60) days to provide an explanation of the reasons why additional time is needed to process the application.

(2) If an existing outdoor advertising device is made subject to this chapter under subdivision (a)(2), the owner or operator of the device shall obtain a permit and tag in the same manner as provided in subdivision (b)(1) except as follows:

(A) The application for the permit and tag shall be made on an application form specifically provided for this purpose;

(B) The application form shall exempt the applicant from providing:

(i) Any stake or mark on the ground showing the location of the outdoor advertising device on the real property;

(ii) A map or scaled drawing showing the property lines of the real property within which the outdoor advertising device is located, the location of the outdoor advertising device within the real property, the public roads adjacent to the real property, or the means of access to the outdoor advertising device; or

(iii) Any affidavit or other document from the real property owner verifying that the owner has granted the applicant the right to construct and operate the outdoor advertising device on the real property;

(C) The application shall be accompanied by payment of a fee of seventy dollars ($70.00) for each permit and tag requested. This fee shall represent payment for the required tag and for the first annual permit and shall not be subject to return upon rejection of any application;

(D) After a completed application is submitted to and processed by the department of transportation in accordance with this subdivision (b)(2) and the applicable provisions of the department of transportation's outdoor advertising regulations, the department of transportation shall issue the permit, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b)(2)(F);

(E) No existing outdoor advertising device shall be denied a permit under this subdivision (b)(2) solely because the device does not meet the size, lighting, spacing, or zoning criteria that are required for new outdoor advertising devices under current law and regulations;

(F)

(i) An application for a permit may be denied on other grounds under this subdivision (b)(2) only in accordance with current law or regulations, including as follows:

(a) The outdoor advertising device is located within or encroaches upon state highway right-of-way;

(b) There is no access to the outdoor advertising device for maintenance or operational purposes except by direct access from state highway right-of-way or across the state's access control limits;

(c) The applicant for the permit is subject to enforcement action under § 54-21-105(c); or

(d) Issuance of the permit would violate federal law;

(ii) Before denying a permit on any of the grounds provided in subdivision (b)(2)(F)(i), the department of transportation shall notify the applicant in writing of the violation that prevents issuance of the permit. The department shall also give the applicant a reasonable amount of time to undertake such action, if any, that would cure the violation. If the applicant cures the violation, the department shall issue the permit, but if the applicant fails to cure the violation the department shall deny the permit;

(G) Any permit that is issued under this subdivision (b)(2) shall indicate whether the outdoor advertising device shall be characterized and regulated as a conforming or nonconforming device under this chapter based upon the conditions and laws in effect on the date of the department's field inspection. The department shall notify the applicant in writing of the reason or reasons for characterizing a device as nonconforming; and

(H) The applicant has the right to appeal the department's decision in accordance with the department of transportation's outdoor advertising regulations and the applicable provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.

(3) An application for an addendum to an existing permit requesting authorization to upgrade an existing outdoor advertising device to a changeable message sign with a digital display, as provided in § 54-21-122, shall also be accompanied by payment of a fee of two hundred dollars ($200), which shall not be subject to return upon rejection of the application. No outdoor advertising device with a digital display lawfully permitted, erected, and in operation prior to June 1, 2008, shall be required to apply for such an addendum or to pay the fee.

(4) For the purposes of issuing permits and regulating outdoor advertising devices in accordance with this chapter, the location of a permitted device shall be determined by the location of the supporting monopole, or by the location of the supporting pole nearest to the highway in the case of a device erected on multiple supporting poles; provided, however, that where a permitted multiple-pole device may be lawfully reconstructed, the replacement of the supporting poles with a monopole shall not be considered a change of location requiring a new permit if:

(A) The permittee gives advance notice to, and receives the prior approval of, the department before reconstructing the device;

(B) The monopole is erected within the line segment defined by the previous supporting poles; and

(C) The location of the monopole meets applicable spacing requirements.

(c)

(1) All tags issued shall be permanent; however, permits shall be renewed annually between November 1 and December 31, and the commissioner shall charge the sum of forty dollars ($40.00) for the year 2008, fifty dollars ($50.00) for 2009, sixty dollars ($60.00) for 2010, and seventy dollars ($70.00) for 2011 and thereafter for annual renewal of each permit.

(2) In the event that a permit has not been renewed by December 31 for the following year as required by subdivision (c)(1), the permit shall not be considered void until the commissioner has given the permit holder notice of the failure to renew and the opportunity to correct the unlawfulness, as provided in § 54-21-105(b). The failure to renew may be remedied by submitting a late renewal form and paying the annual permit renewal fee together with a late fee, in the total amount of two hundred dollars ($200), within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice. If a permit holder fails to renew the permit within this thirty-day notice period, then the permit shall be void and the outdoor advertising device shall be considered unlawful and subject to removal as further provided in § 54-21-105. The notice given by the commissioner shall include the requirements for renewal and consequences of failure to renew as provided by this subdivision (c)(2).

(d) For each permit issued, the commissioner shall deliver to the applicant a serially numbered permit tag, which shall be attached on the outdoor advertising in a manner as to be visible from the main traveled way of the interstate or primary highway. If more than one (1) side of any structure is used for outdoor advertising, a permit and tag shall be required for each side. Any outdoor advertising sculptured in the round shall be considered to have three (3) sides.

(e) For each replacement tag issued, the commissioner shall deliver to the applicant a serially numbered permit tag. The cost of this replacement tag shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00), payable at the time of request.

(f) Whenever it becomes necessary to transfer a permit from one (1) permit holder to another, the department will charge a ten-dollar ($10.00) transfer fee to the permit holder of record.