Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-21-119
Changeable message signs
Redline — September 1, 2020 → current.View current text →
Current — September 30, 2020
As of September 1, 2020
(1) The commissioner shall issue to the owners or holders of lawfully issued outdoor advertising permits, which definition includes those described as legal conforming, grandfathered and nonconforming structures in federal regulations, when the face of the outdoor advertising is generally visible to occupants of vehicles from the main traveled ways of the system on the date of erection, permits to remove, cut and trim vegetation located on the right-of-way adjacent to the outdoor advertising and replace the vegetation as directed, whenever the vegetation prevents clear visibility for a distance not to exceed five hundred yards (500 yds.) to occupants of vehicles using the main traveled ways of the controlled systems. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, vegetation that, on the date of erection of the outdoor advertising, blocks the view of the outdoor advertising, in whole or in any part, for a distance not to exceed five hundred yards (500 yds.), to occupants of vehicles using the main traveled ways, shall not be eligible for removal under a vegetation control permit. The maximum area to be controlled shall not exceed five hundred feet (500'). The regional engineering director for the department shall issue a vegetation control permit where all criteria are met, following submission of information specified and a nonrefundable fee of one hundred dollars ($100) for each face involved. Vegetation control permits will be issued upon payment of a fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per face for supervision of the work. All fees received by the commissioner under this section shall be deposited to the highway fund for the administration of this part and for other purposes. Each subsequent year a maintenance permit may be purchased for fifty dollars ($50.00) to provide annual maintenance at any one (1) location that is consistent with the original vegetation control permit.
(2) 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 thirty (30) 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 to approve or deny the application cannot be made within thirty (30) days after receipt of the completed or corrected application, the commissioner shall contact the applicant prior to the expiration of the thirty (30) days to provide an explanation of the reasons why additional time is needed to process the application. If the application is approved, the applicant shall notify the commissioner of the date on which the applicant wishes the permit to be issued. The applicant shall complete the authorized vegetation control within the time period specified in the permit, and in any event, the applicant shall complete the vegetation control within one (1) year after the date on which the application was approved or the application approval and permit shall be void.
(3) One (1) vegetation control permit fee will be waived for those owners who voluntarily remove a nonconforming structure. If the nonconforming structure to be removed is not at least one hundred fifty square feet (150 sq. ft.) in size, two (2) nonconforming structures must be removed to authorize waiver. The latter applies only when the structure around which control is to occur is larger than three hundred square feet (300 sq. ft.).
(4) This waiver shall not be used as evidence in any future eminent domain proceeding relating to nonconforming structures.
(5) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, it is the legislative intent that issuance of permits and carrying out of the work pursuant to the permits are lawful activities and shall not be construed as violating any provision of law.
(6) The commissioner may revoke, suspend or modify any vegetation control permit for cause, including violation of any terms or conditions of the permit.
(1) Changeable message signs may be double faced, back to back, or V- type signs.
(2) Changeable message signs with a digital display that meet all other requirements pursuant to this chapter are permissible subject to the following restrictions: The message display time must remain static for a minimum of eight (8) seconds with a maximum change time of two (2) seconds;
(3) Video, continuous scrolling messages, and animation are prohibited; and
(4) The minimum spacing of the changeable message signs with a digital display facing the same direction of travel on the same side of the interstate system or controlled access highways is two thousand feet (2,000'); provided, however, that an outdoor advertising device that uses only a small digital display, not to exceed one hundred square feet (100 sq. ft.) in total area, within a larger non-digital sign face is not subject to the minimum spacing requirement established in this subdivision (b)(3), or to any application for a specific digital display permit or permit addendum as established in subsections (c) and (d), or to any fee for a permit addendum as established in § 54-21-104(b).
(5) A person shall not erect, operate, use, or maintain a changeable message sign with a digital display in a new location without first obtaining a permit and tag expressly authorizing a changeable message sign with a digital display, and annually renewing the permit and tag, as provided in § 54-21-104. The department shall not require any additional permit under this subsection (c) for an outdoor advertising device with a digital display lawfully permitted, erected, and in operation prior to June 22, 2020.
(6) A person shall not erect, operate, use, or maintain a changeable message sign with a digital display in place of or as an addition to any existing permitted outdoor advertising device without first obtaining, and annually renewing with the permit, an addendum to the permit expressly authorizing a changeable message sign with a digital display in that location as provided in § 54-21-104(b)(3).
(7) The commissioner shall under no circumstances permit or authorize any person to erect, operate, use, or maintain a changeable message sign of any type as a replacement for or as an addition to any nonconforming outdoor advertising device or in any nonconforming location.
(8) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a person who is granted a permit or an addendum to a permit authorizing a changeable message sign with a digital display in accordance with subsection (c) or (d) has up to, but no more than, twelve (12) months after the date on which the permit or addendum is granted within which to erect and begin displaying an outdoor advertising message on the changeable message sign; provided, however, that prior to the expiration of this twelve-month period, and upon making application to the commissioner and paying an additional permit fee in the amount of two hundred dollars ($200), the permit holder may obtain an additional twelve (12) months within which to erect and begin displaying an outdoor advertising message on the changeable message sign. This additional two-hundred-dollar fee is separate from any annual permit renewal fee required under § 54-21-104. If the permitted or authorized changeable message sign with a digital display is not erected and displaying a message within the required time, or as extended, the permit or addendum to the permit will be revoked and the changeable message sign with the digital display must be removed by the applicant or subject to removal by the commissioner as provided in § 54-21-105.
(9) Any application for a permit or addendum for a digital display as described in this section may be made using the form for an application for permit for an outdoor advertising device existing on June 22, 2020, until a separate form is available.
(10) All changeable message signs installed on or after July 1, 2014, must come equipped with a light-sensing device that automatically adjusts the brightness in direct correlation with ambient light conditions.
(11) The brightness of light emitted from a changeable message sign must not exceed 0.3 foot candles over ambient light levels measured at a distance of one hundred fifty feet (150') for those sign faces less than or equal to three hundred square feet (300 sq. ft.), measured at a distance of two hundred feet (200') for those sign faces greater than three hundred square feet (300 sq. ft.) but less than or equal to three hundred eighty-five square feet (385 sq. ft.), measured at a distance of two hundred fifty feet (250') for those sign faces greater than three hundred eighty-five square feet (385 sq. ft.) and less than or equal to six hundred eighty square feet (680 sq. ft.), measured at a distance of three hundred fifty feet (350') for those sign faces greater than six hundred eighty square feet (680 sq. ft.), or subject to the measuring criteria in the applicable table set forth in subdivision (h)(4).
(12) Any measurements required pursuant to this subsection (h) must be taken from a point within the highway right-of-way at a safe distance from the edge of the traveled way, at a height above the roadway that approximates a motorist's line of sight, and as close to perpendicular to the face of the changeable message sign as practical. If perpendicular measurement is not practical, valid measurements may be taken at an angle up to forty-five (45) degrees from the center point of the sign face. If measurement shows a level above that prescribed in subdivision (h)(4), the exact calculations must be provided to the sign permit holder.
(13) In the event it is found not to be practical to measure a changeable message sign at the distances prescribed in subdivision (h)(2), a measurer may opt to measure the sign at any of the alternative measuring distances described in the applicable table set forth in this subdivision (h)(4). In the event the sign measurer chooses to measure the sign using an alternative measuring distance, the prescribed foot candle level above ambient light must not exceed the prescribed level, to be determined based on the alternative measuring distances set forth in the tables in subdivisions (h)(4)(A), (B), (C), and (D), as applicable. For any measuring distance between the alternative measuring distances set forth in the following tables, the prescribed foot candle level above ambient light must not exceed the interpolated level derived from the following formula: [l2 = (D2 /D1 ) x l1] Where l1 = the prescribed foot candle level above ambient light for the measuring distance listed in the tables, l2 = the derived foot candle level above ambient light for the desired measuring distance, D1 = the desired measuring distance in feet, and D2 = the alternative measuring distance in feet listed in the tables, as follows: For changeable message signs less than or equal to three hundred square feet (300 sq. ft.): Alternative Measuring Distance: Prescribed Foot Candle Level: 100 0.68 125 0.43 150 0.3 200 0.17 250 0.11 275 0.09 300 0.08 325 0.06 350 0.06 400 0.04 table.
(14) For changeable message signs greater than three hundred square feet (300 sq. ft.) but less than or equal to three hundred eighty-five square feet (385 sq. ft.): Alternative Measuring Distance: Prescribed Foot Candle Level: 100 1.2 125 0.77 150 0.53 200 0.3 250 0.19 275 0.16 300 0.13 325 0.11 350 0.1 400 0.08 table.
(15) For changeable message signs greater than three hundred eighty-five square feet (385 sq. ft.) but less than or equal to six hundred eighty square feet (680 sq. ft.): Alternative Measuring Distance: Prescribed Foot Candle Level: 100 1.88 125 1.2 150 0.83 200 0.47 250 0.3 275 0.25 300 0.21 325 0.18 350 0.15 400 0.12 table.
(16) For changeable message signs greater than six hundred eighty square feet (680 sq. ft.): Alternative Measuring Distance: Prescribed Foot Candle Level: 100 3.675 125 2.35 150 1.63 200 0.92 250 0.59 275 0.49 300 0.41 325 0.35 350 0.3 400 0.23 425 0.2 450 0.18 500 0.15 table.
(17) This subsection (h) applies to all changeable message signs located in this state operated pursuant to a permit issued by the commissioner.
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.