AN ACT relating to outdoor advertising.
     Amend KRS 177.830 to include interstates in definition of unzoned commercial or industrial area; amend KRS 177.841 to allow outdoor advertising devices located within the jurisdiction of cities, counties, urban-county governments, and charter county governments that have given their approval to be erected; create a new section of KRS Chapter 177 in which the General Assembly authorizes cities, counties, urban-county governments, and charter county governments of appropriate jurisdiction to adopt these provisions; create a new section of KRS Chapter 177 to allow cities, counties, urban-county governments, and charter county governments of appropriate jurisdiction to permit outdoor advertising devices to be erected in quadrants where a federal-aid highway or interstate bisects a state or county road where rights-of-way were acquired subsequent to July 1, 1956; establish the quadrants as having an area formed by the artificial lines created by measuring a distance of 660 feet along each axis; require a minimum distance between outdoor advertising devices of 500 feet; require all outdoor advertising devices to comply with all requirements pertaining to prohibited advertising devices, size of advertising devices, and lighting of advertising devices as set forth in KRS 177.862; allow a city, county, urban-county government, or charter county government of appropriate jurisdiction to assess sign owners an initial application fee of $100 per device and an annual fee of $20 per advertising device; create a new section of KRS Chapter 177 to require the commissioner of highways to issue permits for the erection and maintenance of advertising devices in counties where the city, county, urban-county government, or charter county government of appropriate jurisdiction has given their approval; require the commissioner of highways to assess owners of advertising devices an initial permit fee of $200 per advertising device and an annual permit fee of $20 per advertising device; require the commissioner of highways to promulgate administrative regulations to allow owners of outdoor advertising devices to remove vegetation that partially or completely obscures from visibility from federal-aid highways or interstates an outdoor advertising device; allow outdoor advertising devices erected in accordance with appropriate requirements to be exempted from all other statutes relating to advertising devices; require the commissioner of highways to amend all administrative regulations affecting advertising devices to comply with these requirements by no later than October 1, 1998.

     Feb 12-introduced in House
     Feb 17-to Tourism Development and Energy (H)
     Feb 27-posted in committee
     Mar 11-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute
     Mar 12-2nd reading, to Rules
     Mar 13-recommitted to Appropriations and Revenue (H)