S.C. Code Regs. § § 63-350
Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 11, November 22, 2024
Section 63-350 - Maintenance Standards for All Signs Controlled by the ActA. All signs subject to the Act must be structurally safe and maintained in a good state of repair which includes but is not limited to the following:(1) The sign face must be maintained free of peeling, chipping, rusting, wearing and fading so as to be fully legible at all times.(2) All parts of the sign, including the cutouts, extensions, border, trim, and sign structure must be maintained in a safe manner, free from rusting, rotting, breaking and other deterioration.(3) The sign face must not have any vegetation growing upon it or touching or clinging to it.B. Any sign which does not conform to the maintenance standards in 63-350(A) or which is abandoned is illegal. A notice will be given by certified mail to the sign owner and landowner to repair any sign which does not conform to these standards within thirty days of the date of mailing. A one-time extension of sixty days may be granted if the sign owner can show just cause for the delay because of unusual weather conditions or other reasons beyond the sign owner's control. If the repairs are not completed within the specified time, the sign must be removed at the sign owner or landowner's expense.C. Nonconforming signs must be maintained subject to the following restrictions:(1) No maintenance may occur which will lengthen the life of the device.(2) There must be existing property rights in the sign.(3) The right to continue a nonconforming sign is confined to the permitted sign owner or his transferee.(4) In the event a nonconforming device is partially destroyed by wind or other natural forces including tornadoes, hurricanes, or other catastrophic occurrences, the Department must determine whether to allow the sign to be rebuilt. If the Department determines that the damage to the sign was greater than 50 percent of its replacement costs as determined by nationally recognized catalogues of vendors of construction and outdoor advertising materials as of the time of the damage, the sign must be dismantled at no cost to the Department and may not be erected again. A current issue of the catalogue or advertisement indicating materials to be replaced must be submitted with the request to rebuild. Salvage parts cannot be used to determine replacement value unless approved by the Department.(5) A nonconforming sign which is destroyed by an Act of God or catastrophic act cannot be rebuilt, and the debris from the destroyed sign shall be removed by the sign owner, or by the Department at the sign owner's expense and the permit cancelled.(6) A nonconforming sign when relocated or moved shall no longer be considered a nonconforming sign and thereafter shall be subject to all the provisions of law and of these regulations relating to outdoor advertising.(7) The sign must remain substantially the same as it was on the effective date of the State law or regulations which rendered the sign nonconforming. Reasonable repair and maintenance of a nonconforming sign is not a change which would terminate nonconforming use. Extension, enlargement, rebuilding, changing the materials of the sign structure, changing the size of the sign structure materials, adding catwalks, adding guys or struts for stabilization of the sign or structure, adding lights to an unilluminated sign, changing the height of the sign above ground or re-erection of the sign will make the sign illegal. Maintenance will be limited to:(a) Replacement of nuts and bolts;(b) Additional nailing, riveting or welding;(c) Cleaning and painting;(d) Manipulation to level or plumb the device, but not to the extent of adding guys or struts for stabilization of the sign or structure;(e) A change of the advertising message, including changing faces, as long as similar materials are used and the sign face is not enlarged. If the sign face or faces are reduced, they may not thereafter ever be increased.(8) The Department must be notified of any maintenance to a nonconforming sign prior to the work being performed.(9) Any nonconforming sign suffering damage in excess of normal wear cannot be repaired without: (a) Notifying the Department in writing of the extent of the damage, the reason the damage is in excess of normal wear, and providing clear, color, on-site photographs of the damaged sign and all salvageable parts thereof, and a description of the repair work to be undertaken including the estimated cost of repair on the approved form; and(b) Receiving written notice from the Department authorizing the repair work as described above. If said work authorization is granted, it shall be mailed to the applicant within thirty days of receipt of the information described in (a) above. Any such sign which is repaired without Department authorization becomes illegal.D. No individual, company, corporation, public or private entity may cut, trim, remove or otherwise cause to be removed planted or natural vegetation from within the limits of highway rights-of-way unless specifically provided for by a properly executed agreement between the Department, individual, company, corporation, public or private entity. No such agreement may be granted for sign locations which have been permitted for less than two years. All such agreements shall be entered into at the sole discretion of the Department.E. Signs may not be serviced from or across the right-of-way of Interstate or freeway primary federal-aid highways or across controlled access lines of federal-aid primary routes. Any sign which is so serviced becomes illegal and must be removed.Amended by State Register Volume 13, Issue No. 6, eff June 23, 1989; State Register Volume 16, Issue No. 7, eff July 24, 1992; State Register Volume 18, Issue No. 6, eff June 24, 1994; State Register Volume 31, Issue No. 3, eff March 23, 2007.