Outdoor Advertising

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 49, ch. 23
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-1 Legislative intent.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays and devices in areas adjacent to state controlled routes should be controlled in order to protect the public investment in such highways, to promote the safety and recreational value of public travel, and to preserve natural beauty. Any advertising device subject to Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29, and found to be in violation thereof, is subject to removal under the state’s police power where not contrary to provisions provided herein. It is the intention of the Legislature in such sections to provide a statutory basis for regulation of outdoor advertising consistent with the public policy declared by Congress in areas adjacent to state controlled routes.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-3 Definitions.

As used in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29: “An unzoned commercial or industrial area” is an area determined by actual land uses which is commercial, industrial, marketing or mercantile, along a state controlled route and extending outward along one (1) side of such highway not more than eight hundred (800) feet from the edge of such activity. “Areas which are zoned industrial or commercial” means an area along a state controlled route that has been zoned or rezoned as industrial or commercial under the authority of any law of this state, which shall include, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, zoning districts customarily referred to as “B” or business, “C” or commercial, “I” or industrial, “M” or manufacturing and “S” or service and all similar classifications. “Commission” means the Mississippi Transportation Commission. “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Transportation. “Erect” means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish an advertising message. “Great River Road” means that portion of highway located within this state as officially designated by the Federal Highway Administration pursuant to the provisions of Title 23, United States Code, “Highways.” “Information center” means an area or site established and maintained at safety rest areas for the purpose of informing the public of places of interest within the state and providing such other information as the commission may consider desirable. “Interstate system” means that portion of the national system of interstate and defense highways located within this state, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated, by the commission, and approved pursuant to the provisions of Title 23, United States Code, “Highways.” “Maintenance” means repair, replacement, change, renovation or improvement of any outdoor advertising sign as defined herein. Maintenance shall not include the removal or destruction of any outdoor advertising sign. “National highway system” means that portion of the national system of interstate and defense highways located within this state, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated by the commission, and approved pursuant to the provisions of Title 23, United States Code, “Highways.” “Outdoor advertising” or “outdoor advertising sign” means by outdoor signs, display, light, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, plaque, poster, billboard, or other thing which is designated, intended or used to advertise or inform, any part of which is visible from any place on the main-traveled way of a state controlled route. “Primary system” means that portion of connected main highways, as officially designated by the commission, and approved pursuant to the provisions of Title 23, United States Code, “Highways.” “Safety rest area” means an area or site established and maintained within or adjacent to the right-of-way or under public supervision or control, for the convenience of the traveling public. “Scenic byway” means a highway that is designated as a scenic byway under Section 65-41-1 et seq. without regard to qualification as a Federal Scenic Byway, meaning that both “state” scenic byway as well as “federal” scenic byway shall be included under the general category of “scenic byway.” “State controlled routes” means the Interstate System, the Federal Primary System, the National Highway System, the Great River Road and any scenic byways as defined herein along with any additions or deletions thereto as the Federal Highway Administration shall determine by federal statutes or regulations.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-5 Limitations of outdoor advertising devices.

No outdoor advertising shall be erected or maintained within six hundred sixty (660) feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main-traveled way of a state controlled route, except the following: Directional and other official signs and notices, which signs and notices shall include, but not be limited to, signs and notices pertaining to natural wonders, scenic and historic attractions, as authorized or required by law; Signs, displays and devices advertising the sale or lease of property upon which they are located; Signs, displays and devices advertising the principal activities conducted on the property upon which they are located; Outdoor advertising signs, displays and devices located in areas which are zoned industrial or commercial as defined in Section 49-23-3; Outdoor advertising signs, displays and devices located in unzoned commercial or industrial areas as defined in Section 49-23-3; and Signs, displays and devices which locate, identify, mark or warn of the presence of pipelines, utility lines or rail lines and appurtenances thereto, including, but not limited to, markers used in maintenance, operation, observation and safety. No outdoor advertising shall be erected at or beyond six hundred sixty (660) feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way outside of urban areas, with the purpose of their message being read from the main-traveled ways of state controlled routes, except the following: Directional and other official signs and notices, which signs and notices shall include, but not be limited to, signs and notices, pertaining to natural wonders, scenic and historic attractions, as authorized or required by law; Signs, displays and devices advertising the sale or lease of property upon which they are located; Signs, displays and devices advertising the principal activities conducted on the property upon which they are located. Signs lawfully in existence on October 22, 1965, as determined by the commission, subject to the concurrence of the United States Secretary of Transportation, to be landmark signs of historic or artistic significance, including signs on farm structures or natural surfaces, the preservation of which would be consistent with the purposes of this section, are not required to be removed. No outdoor advertising shall be erected along or adjacent to a scenic byway as defined in Section 49-23-3. No outdoor advertising shall be erected contrary to the restrictions in SECTION 7 of Section 65-3-137. The board of supervisors of the county, for an outdoor advertising sign that is located outside the corporate limits of any incorporated municipality, and the governing authorities of a municipality, for an outdoor advertising sign that is located within the corporate limits of the municipality, may prohibit any outdoor advertising sign that contains any message or depiction of a sexually explicit nature.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-7 Regulations pertaining to advertising.

The State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to promulgate regulations governing the issuance of permits for the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising coming within the exceptions contained in subsections (a), (d) and (e) of Section 49-23-5, consistent with the safety and welfare of the traveling public, and as may be necessary to carry out the policy of the state declared in Section 49-23-1, and consistent with the national standards promulgated by the secretary of commerce pursuant to Title 23, United States Code, provided that such regulations shall not contain any definition more restrictive than those set forth in Section 49-23-3; nor shall they be more restrictive than the provisions set forth in Section 49-23-9.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-9 Standards for signs erected or maintained in business areas.

In addition to the authority set out in this chapter, the commission shall have authority to promulgate rules and regulations regarding the configuration and location of outdoor advertising signs provided for in Section 49-23-5. At a minimum, the rules and regulations shall conform to the national standards promulgated pursuant to Title 23 of the United States Code and the standards set out in an agreement entered into under Section 49-23-27. For signs erected prior to July 1, 2003, the maximum size of any outdoor sign or other advertising device shall be one thousand two hundred (1,200) square feet; For sign structures erected on or after July 1, 2003, the maximum area for any one (1) sign face shall be six hundred seventy-two (672) square feet, the maximum height shall be fourteen (14) feet and the maximum length shall be forty-eight (48) feet, inclusive of any border and trim on the sign face, but excluding any embellishment on, and cut-out extension of, the sign face, the base or apron, supports and other structural members. The height of any sign structure shall not exceed forty (40) feet. The height of sign structures erected on or after April 15, 2008, shall not exceed forty (40) feet above the level of the road grade unless the grade of the land adjacent to the road is higher than the level of the road grade, then the height of the sign structure may exceed forty (40) feet above the level of the road grade but shall not exceed forty (40) feet above the grade of the site where the sign is placed. Any embellishment on or cut-out extension of any sign face shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the square footage of such sign face. The area of any sign face shall be measured by the smallest square, rectangle, triangle or circle or combination thereof which will encompass the entire sign. Sign structures erected on or after July 1, 2003, may contain one (1) or two (2) signs per face and may use only a side-by-side, back-to-back or V-type configuration and no other; provided, however, that if two (2) signs are used facing the same direction, the aggregate total area shall not exceed six hundred seventy-two (672) square feet. All illuminated outdoor signs or other advertising devices shall be so illuminated as to adhere to the customary practices of the industry in Mississippi and in conformance with national standards. No lighting devices shall be used which in any way imitate any traffic control device, railroad sign or signal, or highway directional signs. All outdoor signs and other advertising devices located within one-half (1/2) mile of an intersection of two (2) or more primary highways, or a primary highway and the Great River Road, or an interchange on the interstate system shall be erected and/or maintained with a minimum spacing between structures of five hundred (500) feet, unless separated by another commercial building or structure, other than outdoor advertising, in which case outdoor advertising may be permitted on one or more sides of building or buildings. The minimum spacing requirement of five hundred (500) feet between structures shall not apply to signs in existence on April 15, 2008. No two (2) signs shall be spaced less than five hundred (500) feet apart, except as to signs in existence on April 15, 2008 , which shall not be removed by Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29. This spacing limitation shall apply to areas within incorporated cities, towns, villages and in zoned and unzoned industrial or commercial areas.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-11 Permit required; application and fees.

No sign, other than signs described in paragraphs (1) (b), (c) and (f) of Section 49-23-5, may be erected without first obtaining a permit from the department, which application for a permit shall be on a form provided by the department and shall contain such information as the department may reasonably require. Upon receipt of an application containing all required information in due form and appropriately executed, and upon payment of the required permit fee, the department shall within ten (10) days thereof issue a permit to the applicant for the erection of the sign, provided such sign will not violate any provision of Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29. An initial permit fee of Eighty-five Dollars ($85.00) for each applicant, regardless of the number of signs at a single site, shall be charged by the Mississippi Department of Transportation for a sign permit initially issued to an applicant after June 30, 1995. An initial permit fee is valid for a period of twelve (12) months and may be renewed annually upon payment by the permittee to the department of a fee of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) per site. Trees, bushes and vegetation growing at or near permitted sites may be cleared or removed by a permittee, his employee or contractor upon application made to and approved by the department. The department shall charge a permittee a vegetation clearance fee of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per site each time that the department authorizes vegetation clearance. The commission shall provide for a permitting process in its rules and regulations. Regardless of any rule or regulation to the contrary, the department shall issue a vegetation clearance permit if such is sought for the purpose of reducing the height above road grade of a sign erected prior to July 1, 2003, to forty (40) feet. Exempt from the payment of any fees under the provisions of subsection (2) or (3) of this section are: Small business signs. A sign is a small business sign if: The sign advertises a service or product offered by a business; The sign is not located on the premises of the business that offers the product or service; The sign does not exceed thirty-two (32) square feet; The sign is owned, not leased, by the owner of the business that offers the product or service; The only information that appears on the sign consists of the product or service that is offered by the business and the name and location of the business; and The business that offers the product or service is located at a single site, is operated by the owner and employs no more than two (2) individuals, excluding family members. Directional signs, public service signs, public utility signs and other official signs and notices approved under rules and regulations adopted by the Mississippi Transportation Commission. Signs advertising a product or service available from the same premises where the sign is located. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit in any way the authority of any municipality in which the sign is to be erected, to require a permit from the municipality to be obtained, and the payment of a reasonable permit fee in addition to the fee imposed under this section. However, the governing authorities of any municipality or the board of supervisors of any county may not annually, regularly or intermittently impose any fee or privilege license on any business for its sign or signs that are lawfully located on the business’ property and that are lawfully used for the purpose of advertising such business, its products or services. The governing authorities of any municipality or the board of supervisors of any county may impose an initial, reasonable fee on a business for the purpose of ensuring compliance of such sign and the installation thereof with such governing authority’s lawful zoning requirements, public safety requirements or sign restrictions, but, under no circumstances may the governing authorities of any municipality or the board of supervisors of any county impose any fee or privilege license on any business for any lawful sign located within the interior of a business. The money received from the fees paid under this section to the department shall be deposited in the State Highway Maintenance Fund and may be expended, upon legislative appropriation, for any purpose for which other monies in such fund may be expended.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-13 Bond required; amount.

All persons, partnerships, corporations or other business entities engaging in the outdoor advertising business, except persons erecting signs for personal activities or business, which includes but is not limited to the erection, maintenance and selling of advertising space on and along the highways and public roads of Mississippi, shall be required to provide the Mississippi State Highway Commission a bond under the rules and regulations as promulgated by the highway commission, but provided said bond does not exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) in amount.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-15 Removal of nonconforming advertising.

Any sign, display or device lawfully erected which does not conform to Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29 shall be required to be removed before the end of the fifth year after it becomes nonconforming.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-17 Compensation for removal of advertising.

The Mississippi Transportation Commission is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift or condemnation, all advertising devices and any property rights pertaining thereto, when such advertising devices are required to be removed under the provisions of Section 49-23-15. Just compensation shall be paid for the acquisition and for the removal of any outdoor advertising lawfully erected as defined in Section 131 of Title 23, United States Code, as amended, that is required to be removed under the provisions of Section 49-23-15. The use of amortization for whatever period shall not constitute just compensation. If any political subdivision or other governmental agency requires the removal of any outdoor advertising sign lawfully erected, just compensation shall be paid to the owner of the sign for the cost of removal plus the fair market value of the sign removed. The use of amortization for whatever period shall not constitute just compensation. Damages resulting from any taking in eminent domain shall be ascertained in the manner presently provided by law, or in such manner as the Legislature may hereafter provide, and shall be limited to: The taking from the owner of such sign, display or device of all right, title, leasehold and interest in such sign, display or device; and The taking from the owner of the real property on which the sign, display or device is located, of the right to erect and maintain such signs, displays and devices thereon, less enhancement of the property remaining by reason of removal of such sign, display or device and special benefits resulting therefrom. This section shall not apply to any on-premises sign ordinance adopted by a political subdivision or other governmental agency before May 15, 1992.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-19 Unlawful advertising.

Any advertising device or outdoor advertising erected which is contrary to the provisions of Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29 or regulations lawfully adopted hereunder is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. The state highway commission shall give thirty (30) days’ notice by certified mail to the owner of such advertising device and landowner to remove same if it is a prohibited device or cause it to conform to regulations if it is an authorized device. Failure to receive the notice shall not prohibit the State Highway Commission from removing the unlawful outdoor advertising device. If the owner of the outdoor advertising device fails or refuses to remove same within thirty (30) days as required in the notice, the State Highway Commission may proceed to secure the removal of same as authorized in Section 49-23-21.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-21 Injunctive relief.

In addition to the remedies provided in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, and which may otherwise exist under the laws of this state, the State Highway Commission is authorized to petition the chancery court of any county where any unlawful or unauthorized outdoor advertising sign, device or display may exist for injunctive or other appropriate relief. The owner or owners of each and every outdoor advertising sign, device or display shall be deemed to be doing business within this state in each and every county in which such owner or owners shall have erected, or cause to be erected, or maintained, and there shall continue to exist, an outdoor advertising sign, device or display. Once jurisdiction over the parties is obtained, such chancery court shall have such jurisdiction over the parties as is necessary in order to determine if any of said owner or owners’ outdoor advertising is in violation of the provisions of this chapter, and to enforce the provisions of this chapter, as to each and every outdoor advertising sign, device or display of such owner or owners within this state, wheresoever located. However, any such action shall be res adjudicata only as to the outdoor advertising signs, devices or displays specifically made a part of such action; and the State Highway Commission shall be authorized and empowered to maintain any and all other actions as to other outdoor advertising of such owner or owners wheresoever located, but not specifically made a part of a previous action. The court may award costs of any action brought under this section, including court costs, expenses and reasonable attorney’s fees, to the prevailing party.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-23 Interpretation.

Nothing in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29, shall be construed to abrogate or affect the provisions of any lawful ordinance, regulation or resolution, which are more restrictive than the provisions of such sections.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-25 Advertising in safety rest area.

In order to provide information in the specific interest of the traveling public, the State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to maintain maps and to permit informational directories and advertising pamphlets to be made available at safety rest areas, and to establish information centers at safety rest areas for the purpose of informing the public of places of interest within the state and providing such other information as may be considered desirable.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-27 Agreements with the United States authorized.

The State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Secretary of Commerce as provided by Title 23, United States Code, relating to the control of outdoor advertising in areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems, including the establishment of information centers at safety rest areas, and to take action in the name of the state to comply with the terms of such agreement, provided that the state highway commission shall not have power to enter into any agreement calling for more restrictive control of outdoor advertising than that provided for in Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-29 Apportionment of federal funds.

Federal funds appropriated to carry out the provisions of Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-29 are to be apportioned to the commissioners’ districts in the same manner as said federal funds are apportioned to the state, and matching state funds are to be apportioned to the commissioners’ districts proportionately.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-31 and 49-23-33. Repealed.

Repealed by Laws of 1978, ch. 346, § 1, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 49-23-31 . [Codes, 1942, § 8159; Laws, 1938, ch. 200] § 49-23-33 . [Codes, 1942, § 2021; Laws, 1932, ch. 284] Editor’s Notes — Former § 49-23-31 related to the display of unauthorized signs. Former § 49-23-33 contained advertising restrictions for billboards.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-23-35 Name or logo of owner of outdoor advertising to be posted upon sign if owner is not the landowner.

There shall be posted upon every outdoor advertising sign, display or device erected or maintained adjacent to any highway constituting a part of the interstate or primary system of highways and restricted or regulated by Sections 49-23-1 through 49-23-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, except those signs, displays or devices as specified in subsections (1)(a), (b), (c) and (f), and (2)(a), (b) and (c) of Section 49-23-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, the name or logo of the owner of such sign, display or device if the owner of such outdoor advertising is separate and distinct from the owner of the real property upon which such outdoor advertising is located. The name or logo of the owner shall be permanently written on each such outdoor advertising sign, display or device if it is the intention of the parties that ownership of such outdoor advertising is, and shall be, separate from the ownership of the real property upon which it is situated. Each such outdoor advertising sign, display or device heretofore or hereafter erected or maintained without such notice of ownership being posted as aforesaid shall be construed to have attached to the real estate and to be owned by the owner of the real estate upon which the said outdoor advertising is located.

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