Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-21-108
Restrictions on outdoor advertising devices adjacent to state highways
Redline — September 1, 2020 → current.View current text →
Current — September 30, 2020
As of September 1, 2020
(1) The commissioner is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift, or condemnation, and to pay just compensation upon the removal of the following outdoor advertising in areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems: Those lawfully in existence on April 4, 1972; and
(2) Those lawfully erected on or after April 4, 1972.
(3) Compensation is authorized to be made only for the following: The taking from the owner of the outdoor advertising of all right, title, leasehold and interest in the outdoor advertising; and
(4) The taking from the owner of the real property on which the outdoor advertising is located, of the right to erect and maintain the signs, displays and devices on the property.
(5) If funds other than federal funds are used, the state shall follow the following order of purchasing priorities: Volunteer nonconforming devices;
(6) Hardship situations;
(7) Normal value signs;
(8) Signs in areas that are designated scenic or parkway;
(9) Product advertising on: Rural interstate;
(10) Rural primary; and
(11) Urban areas;
(12) Non-tourist oriented directional advertising; and
(13) Tourist oriented devices.
(14) All funds other than federal funds, acquired by the state from whatever source for the purpose of acquiring nonconforming structures, shall be appropriated by the general assembly to the department and shall not be earmarked for acquisitions at any particular location.
(15) Funds obtained from private sources not appropriated within one (1) year shall revert to the donor.
(16) Upon funds being made available, owners of outdoor advertising structures shall be notified of the availability of the funds for the purpose of volunteering nonconforming structures for purchase by the state.
(17) Upon the request of the commissioner, the owner of the outdoor advertising and the owner of the property upon which the outdoor advertising is located, who are seeking compensation as provided under subdivisions (b)(1)(A) and (B) shall present evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that the outdoor advertising in question was in existence or lawfully erected, as the case may be, on, before, or after the appropriate dates set out in subdivisions (a)(1) and (2). No payment shall be made by the commissioner under subdivisions (b)(1)(A) and (B) until the proof has been presented except by court order. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, those signs legally in existence on April 4, 1972, shall be entitled to remain in place and in use until compensation for removal has been made as provided in this section.
(18) In determining whether any outdoor advertising is lawful or unlawful, any failure to have obtained a license or permit, or to have attached a permit, or failure to have complied with setback requirements shall not be a cause for declaring any outdoor advertising unlawful. Any person having constructed, erected, operated, used, maintained or having caused or permitted any outdoor advertising sign to be constructed, erected, operated, used, or maintained, shall pay the fee prescribed by § 54-21-104; provided, that the outdoor advertising was erected prior to April 4, 1972.
(1) Control of outdoor advertising devices, as provided in §§ 54-21-103 and 54-21-104, is extended to outdoor advertising devices located beyond six hundred sixty feet (660') of the edge of the right-of-way of the federal-aid interstate or primary systems outside of urban areas erected with the purpose of their message being read from the main traveled ways of the systems. Such outdoor advertising devices are prohibited, regardless of whether located in commercial or industrial areas, unless they are of a class or type allowed under existing law within six hundred sixty feet (660') of the edge of the right-of-way of the systems outside of commercial or industrial areas.
(2) Those outdoor advertising devices lawfully erected prior to July 1, 1976, but prohibited as of July 1, 1976, by subsection (a) shall be removed upon the payment of just compensation in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as outdoor advertising devices lawfully erected within six hundred sixty feet (660') of the edge of the right-of-way of the federal-aid interstate and primary systems outside of commercial and industrial areas.
(3) Signs lawfully in existence on October 22, 1965, determined by the commissioner, subject to the concurrence of the secretary of transportation of the United States, to be landmark signs, including signs on farm structures or natural surfaces, of historic or artistic significance, the preservation of which would be consistent with the purposes of this section, are not required to be removed.
Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.