By Clark H.B. No. 3472
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of outdoor advertising of sexually
1-3 oriented businesses on or near an interstate or primary highway
1-4 system.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 391.031 of the Transportation Code is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) A person commits an offences if the person willfully
1-9 erects or maintains outdoor advertising:
1-10 (1) within 660 feet of the nearest edge of a
1-11 right-of-way if the advertising is visible from the main-traveled
1-12 way of the interstate or primary system; or
1-13 (2) outside an urban area if the advertising is
1-14 located more than 660 feet from the nearest edge of a right-of-way,
1-15 is visible from the main-traveled way of the interstate or primary
1-16 system, and is erected for the purpose of having its message seen
1-17 from the main-traveled way of the interstate or primary system.
1-18 (b) A person does not commit an offense if the person erects
1-19 or maintains in an area described by Subsection (a):
1-20 (1) directional or other official outdoor advertising
1-21 authorized by law, including advertising pertaining to natural
1-22 wonder or a scenic or historic attraction;
2-1 (2) outdoor advertising for the sale or lease of the
2-2 property on which it is located;
2-3 (3) outdoor advertising solely for activities
2-4 conducted on the property on which it is located;
2-5 (4) outdoor advertising located within 660 feet of the
2-6 nearest edge of a right-of-way in an area in which the land use:
2-7 (A) is designated industrial or commercial under
2-8 authority of law; or
2-9 (B) is not designated industrial or commercial
2-10 under authority of law but the land use is consistent with an area
2-11 designated industrial or commercial;
2-12 (5) outdoor advertising that has as its purpose the
2-13 protection of life and property; or
2-14 (6) outdoor advertising erected on or before October
2-15 22, 1965, that the commission, with the approval of the secretary
2-16 of the United States Department of Transportation, determines to be
2-17 a landmark of such historic or artistic significance that
2-18 preservation is consistent with the purposes of this subchapter.
2-19 (c) The determination of whether an area is to be designated
2-20 industrial or commercial must be made under criteria established by
2-21 commission rule and according to actual land use.
2-22 (d) Notwithstanding anything contained in the subchapter
2-23 above, a person commits an offense if the person willfully erects
2-24 or maintains any sign within 660 feet of an interstate or primary
2-25 system on a sexually oriented business other than one primary sign
2-26 and one secondary sign as provided herein.
2-27 (1) Primary signs shall have no more than two display
3-1 surfaces. Each such surface shall:
3-2 (A) Not contain any flashing lights;
3-3 (B) Be a flat plane, rectangular in shape;
3-4 (C) Not exceed 30 square feet in area; and
3-5 (D) Not exceed five feet in height or five feet
3-6 in length.
3-7 (2) Primary signs shall contain no photographs,
3-8 silhouettes, drawings or pictorial representations of any manner,
3-9 and may contain only the name of the business.
3-10 (3) Secondary signs shall have only one display
3-11 surface. Such display surface shall:
3-12 (A) Be a flat plane, rectangular in shape;
3-13 (B) Not exceed 20 square feet in area;
3-14 (C) Not exceed five feet in height and four feet
3-15 in width; and
3-16 (D) Be affixed or attached to any wall or door
3-17 of the business.
3-18 (4) Any sign located on the premises of a commercial
3-19 multi-center containing a business that displays a name, or any
3-20 portion of the name of the business, any name under which any
3-21 business was formerly operated on the premises, or that contains
3-22 any references to sexually oriented business or terminology
3-23 generally related thereto, shall comply with the restrictions of
3-24 this section. The intent of this subsection is to prevent the use
3-25 of a sign identifying the commercial multi-tenant center itself
3-26 from being used as a subterfuge to evade the restrictions on
3-27 sexually oriented business signs set forth in this section.
4-1 (5) For the purpose of this section, "sexually
4-2 oriented business" is defined in Section 243.002 of the Local
4-3 Government Code.
4-4 (e) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
4-5 punishable by a fine of not less than $500 or more than $1,000.
4-6 Each day of the proscribed conduct is a separate offense.
4-7 SECTION 3. This takes effect on September 1, 1997.
4-8 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.