Section 201.20. Local certification.

 

(1)   Purpose. The purpose of this section is to set out the standards employed by the department in making determinations of customary use under s. 84.30 (4) (intro.) , Stats., which are used for certifying local sign control ordinances to the federal highway administration under 23 USC 131 (d).

(2)   Applicability. This section applies to local certification applications filed by counties, cities, villages or towns after August 1, 1983, and to applications for the re-certification of previously certified ordinances filed after that date.

(3)   Definition. "Local certification" means the department's acceptance, under s. 84.30 (4) (intro.) , Stats., of a local zoning authority's determination of customary use as to the size, lighting and spacing of outdoor advertising signs in the zoned commercial or industrial areas of the locality.

(4)   Inventory. An application for local certification must include a copy of the local zoning ordinance and an inventory of all existing signs within the area to be certified.

(5)   Ordinance. The local determination of customary use shall be in the form of an ordinance. The department shall accept for certification an ordinance that meets the other requirements of this section, that includes provisions ensuring effective enforcement and that conforms to and complies with the following:

(a) The local zoning authority's controls shall include the regulation of size, of lighting and of spacing of signs, in all commercial and industrial zones.

(b) Unless a Wisconsin statute or administrative rule requires otherwise, the local zoning authority's controls may be either more or less restrictive than the appropriate controls set forth in the agreement in effect between the department and the secretary of transportation of the United States entered pursuant to s. 84.30 (12) , Stats.

(c) If a local zoning authority has extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction under s. 62.23 (7a) , Stats., and exercises control of signs in commercial and in industrial zones within this extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction, sign control by that local zoning authority may be accepted in lieu of the otherwise applicable control within the extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction.

(d) The department shall notify the federal highway administration in writing of those zoning jurisdictions wherein a local zoning authority's controls apply and shall periodically assure itself that the size, lighting and spacing control provisions of each applicable local zoning ordinance certified under this section are actually being enforced by the appropriate local zoning authority.

(e) Nothing in this section shall diminish the department's authority or relieve the department from responsibility to limit signs within controlled areas of commercial and industrial zones.

(6)   Nonconforming signs. The ordinance shall commit the local government to pay the full costs of removing any signs erected after local certification is granted which acquire nonconforming status under state law. This shall include any liability of the state or federal government under s. 84.30 (6) , Stats., or 23 USC 131 (g). The department shall require a bond or insurance policy to cover this commitment as a condition of local certification.

Cr. Register, July, 1983, No. 331 , eff. 8-1-83.

Note

Each of the provisions in sub. (5) (a) to (e) are based upon the provisions of 23 CFR 750.706 (c). Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1