Chapter 508 Oregon Laws 2001

AN ACT

HB 2145

Relating to signs; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 366.905, 377.775 and 377.992.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 366.905 is amended to read:

366.905. [(1)] All that portion of the east and west state highway across the state, commencing at the Idaho state line at Ontario and Nyssa, through Huntington, Baker City, La Grande, Pendleton, Umatilla, The Dalles, Hood River, Portland, Astoria and ending at Seaside on the Pacific Ocean, is designated as the Old Oregon Trail. That portion of the highway from The Dalles to Astoria shall retain its identity as the Columbia River Highway section of the Old Oregon Trail. The road from Hood River, up the Hood River Valley around Mt. Hood, through Oregon City and on to Portland, shall be known as the Mt. Hood Loop section of the Old Oregon Trail.

[(2) The Department of Transportation shall change the signs along the east and west state highway across the state to comply with this section and assist the Old Oregon Trail Association in erecting across the state, east and west, the official sign of the association bearing the design of the ox team and prairie schooner.]

SECTION 2. ORS 377.775 is amended to read:

377.775. (1) Any sign that fails to comply with ORS 377.700 to 377.840 hereby is declared to be a public and private nuisance. In addition to the penalties provided by ORS 377.992 for violation thereof, such a sign may be removed by the Director of Transportation or the duly authorized representative of the director as provided by this section. The director may enter upon private property and remove the sign without incurring any liability therefor.

(2) If a noncomplying sign does not bear the name and address of its owner or if the owner is not readily identified and located, the director may remove it immediately.

(3)(a) If a noncomplying sign bears the name and address of its owner or if the owner of the sign is readily identified and located, the director shall notify the owner that the sign is in violation of ORS 377.700 to 377.840 and that the owner has 30 days from the date of the notice within which to make the sign comply, to remove the sign or to request a hearing before the director within the time specified in the notice.

(b) If the sign is not made to comply or is not removed and if the owner does not request a hearing within the time required, or if the owner after a hearing fails to comply with the final order in the proceedings, the director or the duly authorized representatives of the director may remove and destroy or otherwise dispose of the sign.

(4)(a) If the person who receives notice under subsection (3) of this section intends to raise issues regarding ownership interests in the sign or its appurtenances in a hearing requested under subsection (3) of this section, the request for hearing must include notice that the person intends to raise those issues and must contain the names and addresses of all persons who have ownership interests in the sign or its appurtenances.

(b) If the person requesting the hearing under subsection (3) of this section fails to include notice of intent to raise issues regarding ownership interests, the person may not raise the issues in the hearing. In addition, the person who requested the hearing may not raise issues regarding ownership interests of any person whose name and address the person who requested the hearing has failed to provide as required by paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(c) For purposes of this subsection, an ownership interest includes, but is not limited to:

(A) An interest in the land on which the sign is located, in the sign structure and in the sign face; and

(B) A right to operate the sign, whether the right is created by lease, operating agreement or otherwise.

[(4)] (5) The director shall, after removing a sign in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, place it in storage for 30 days while the director makes a further effort to find its owner. If the owner cannot be found within that time, the director may, without incurring any liability therefor, destroy or otherwise dispose of the sign. If the owner is found within that time, the owner may be required to remove the sign from storage; and if the owner is found at any time, the director may recover from the owner the cost of storage. The cost of storage is in addition to the cost of removal payable under subsection [(5)] (6) of this section.

[(5)] (6) The owner is liable for, and the director shall collect, the costs of removing a sign. Costs shall be determined by the director on the basis of actual costs of removal or on a square-foot flat fee basis.

[(6)] (7) If a sign does not bear the name and address of its owner, the advertisement thereon of the goods, products, facilities, services or business of a person or commercial enterprise is prima facie evidence of ownership of the sign by that person or commercial enterprise.

SECTION 3. ORS 377.992 is amended to read:

377.992. (1)(a) A person who violates any provision of ORS 377.510 or 377.700 to 377.840 [and this section] or any regulation of the Travel Information Council adopted pursuant thereto [shall upon conviction be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned for not more than 30 days, or both.] is subject to a civil penalty of up to $100 per day for each day of violation. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, the maximum penalty under this subsection for a violation is $3,000 per sign.

(b) A person who violates ORS 377.725 is subject to a civil penalty of up to $100 per day for each day of violation, up to a maximum amount established by the Department of Transportation by rule.

(c) Civil penalties under this subsection shall be imposed in the manner provided by ORS 183.090.

(2) Violation of the conditions and provisions of a permit procured under ORS 377.050 by any person having procured the permit is punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than $100, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days or both.

(3) Violation of ORS 377.030 to 377.050, 377.510, 377.620 (2) or 377.635 is punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than $100, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days, or both.

SECTION 4. Section 5 of this 2001 Act is added to and made a part of ORS 377.700 to 377.840.

SECTION 5. If the Department of Transportation has issued three or more final orders in a 12-month period finding that a person has violated one or more provisions of ORS 377.700 to 377.840, the Director of Transportation may file an action for injunctive relief to enjoin the person, or any other entity substantially controlled or directed by the person, from further violating ORS 377.700 to 377.840. The action may be filed in the Circuit Court for Marion County or in the circuit court of the county that is the principal place of business or residence of the person the director seeks to enjoin.

SECTION 6. Section 7 of this 2001 Act is added to and made a part of ORS chapter 366.

SECTION 7. (1) The Department of Transportation may issue a vegetation control permit to a person who holds a sign permit issued pursuant to ORS 377.700 to 377.840. A vegetation control permit authorizes the holder of the permit to control vegetation in the right of way of a state highway, in accordance with the provisions of this section, in order to keep the sign visible to the traveling public.

(2) The department may not issue a vegetation control permit for a scenic area as defined in ORS 377.505.

(3) The department may not issue a vegetation control permit for the right of way of a portion of state highway that is access controlled, or for which access rights have not accrued to the abutting property unless:

(a) Access to the right of way is from the abutting property; and

(b) The access does not breach, violate, destroy or otherwise diminish the effectiveness or purpose of fences or other physical barriers to the right of way.

(4) The department may charge a fee to the person issued a vegetation control permit under this section. The amount of the fee shall be determined by the department and shall be designed to recover the cost to the department of issuing the permit.

Approved by the Governor June 21, 2001

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 22, 2001

Effective date January 1, 2002

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