Ill. Admin. Code tit. 92, § 541.40 - Business Signs
a)
Specific types of businesses shall meet the following criteria to qualify for
signing:
1) GAS: Should be open five days a
week, including a Saturday or a Sunday, for a minimum of 12 hours a day for at
least six months of the year. If open less than five days a week for six
months, or if not open on either a Saturday or a Sunday, the days of the week
and months open, as applicable, must be shown on the business sign. It shall
have normal service station goods and services, including telephone, gas, oil,
water and restroom. An attendant must be present at the business at all times
the business is open.
2) FOOD:
Should be open five days a week, including a Saturday or a Sunday, for at least
six months of the year. If open less than five days a week for six months, or
if not open on either a Saturday or a Sunday, the days of the week and months
open, as applicable, must be shown on the business sign. It shall be certified
by the Illinois Department of Public Health or local health department and have
a public restroom and telephone.
3)
LODGING: Should be open seven days a week for at least six months of the year.
If open less than seven days a week for six months, the days of the week and
months open, as applicable, must be shown on the business sign. It shall have a
telephone, restroom and sleeping accommodations. The majority of the
accommodations shall be available to the general public and not restricted to
members only nor rented or leased on a time-share basis.
4) CAMPING: Should be open seven days a week
for at least six months of the year. If open less than seven days a week for
six months, the days of the week and months open, as applicable, must be shown
on the business sign. It shall have camping and parking accommodations,
restroom, telephone, and drinking water. The majority of the camp sites shall
be available to the general public and not restricted to members only nor
rented or leased on a time-share basis.
5) AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES: Should be open
five days a week, including a Saturday or a Sunday, during the applicable
growing and harvesting season for the crop(s) involved and shall offer for sale
primarily products grown, harvested, or produced within 50 miles of the
business. If open less than five days a week for six months, or if not open on
either a Saturday or a Sunday, the days of the week and months open, as
applicable, must be shown on the business sign. Such businesses shall include
but are not limited to fruit orchards, vegetable stands, tree farms, vineyards
and wineries.
6) GENERAL TOURIST
ATTRACTIONS: Should be open five days a week, including a Saturday or a Sunday,
for at least six months of the year. If open less than five days a week for six
months, or if not open on either a Saturday or a Sunday, the days of the week
and months open, as applicable, must be shown on the business sign. General
tourist attractions shall include but are not limited to marinas, sport
fishing/bait facilities, stage theaters, amusement parks, riding stables,
antique stores, craft stores, museums, golf courses, ski areas, facilities
offering aircraft, boat, or train rides, and historic villages. The attraction
shall be available to the general public and not restricted to members
only.
7) INELIGIBLE BUSINESSES:
Businesses not normally associated with tourism are not eligible even when the
majority of their visitors or income is derived from motorists not residing
within a 25 air mile radius of the business. Such businesses include, but are
not limited to, shopping malls, discount malls, furniture/clothing stores,
automobile/truck dealerships, malls or garages, drug stores, movie theaters,
community business districts, appliance stores, department stores, schools,
houses of worship, real estate offices, auction houses, livestock sales
facilities, sand and gravel facilities, and grocery stores.
b) A maximum of four business
signs for four individual qualifying businesses may be placed under each
tourist oriented directional sign.
c) No individual business shall be allowed
more than one business sign under an individual tourist oriented directional
sign.
d) No more than one business
sign for any individual qualifying business may be erected in any given
direction at more than one intersection on any given State highway.
e) Where there are qualifying businesses in
each direction on the intersecting road, the business signs directing motorists
to the left shall be placed above the business signs for those businesses to
the right.
f) Signing for a
qualifying business shall only be allowed at a given marked State highway
intersection where the business can be reached without crossing another marked
State highway.
g) Business Signing
Priorities
1) A maximum of four business
signs may be installed at any one intersection with a State marked highway.
Where there are more businesses eligible for and desiring signing than the
number of signs permitted, those businesses nearest the intersection will be
given first priority for signing.
2) Business signs which have been installed
will not be removed because of a nearer business desiring signing as long as
the business having the signing continues to meet the established criteria and
continues to pay the annual fees.
3) When a space becomes available under an
individual tourist oriented directional sign, the eligible business desiring
signing submitting an application first along with the required application fee
will be given first priority for signing. If that business does not remit the
required yearly fee to the Department within 30 calendar days after being
notified in writing that its application is approved, the space will be offered
to the next eligible business submitting a valid application. In the event the
Department receives applications, including the required application fees, from
more than one business on any given business day, the business closest to the
intersection will be given first priority for any available space. The
Department will not install signs for any business until the required yearly
fee is paid.
4) When a business
closes due to remodeling, or due to an Act of God including, but not limited
to, fire or flood, the business signs will be removed and stored by the
Department for up to a maximum of six months. If the business remains closed
after six months, the space will be declared available. In any event, if the
allowable closure period extends to the subsequent calendar year, the annual
fee for the business shall be paid for that year or the space will be declared
available. Any portion of such closure time which may occur during the normal
seasonal closure of the business as noted on the business signs will not count
in determining the six month period.
5) When the type of business changes, such as
an antique shop changing to a food establishment, the business will lose its
signing priority. The business signs will be removed by the Department, and the
space will be declared available. The business will also lose its signing
priority if it closes for any length of time even during its normal seasonal
closure as shown on the business signs and is openly up for sale. When a space
is declared available a business which has lost its signing priority shall
submit a new application, including the application fee, for inclusion in the
program and its priority will be evaluated among all the other eligible
businesses desiring signing at that intersection as set forth in subsection
(g)(3) above.
6) Where it is
necessary to measure distance in order to determine signing priority, the
distance to each business establishment will be measured as the travel distance
between the center of the intersection of the marked State highway with the
intersecting road and the primary entrance to the business. Where an entrance
serves more than one business, the driving distance using the proper marked
driving aisles from the entrance to the parking space available for patrons
nearest the business shall be added to the distance measured along the
intersecting road.
h)
Location of Business
1) A business must be
located within a rural area.
2) A
business on the road intersecting with a marked State highway will not be
signed on the State marked highway if the business is located with its property
abutting the marked State highway, and the business or a sign at the site of
the business is visible to the motorists advising motorists of the appropriate
entrance to the establishment.
3) A
business not on the road intersecting with a marked State highway will be
signed on the State marked highway if trailblazing or other signs are in place
on the intersecting road and on such other roads as may be necessary to clearly
advise motorists where to turn to reach the business. Where the intersecting
road or other roads leading from the intersection with the State marked highway
are unmarked State highways, the Department will place such trailblazer signs
on the State highways for the fee established in Section
541.60(b)(2).
Where roads are under local agency jurisdiction, signing will not be provided
on State highways until legible trailblazer or other signs are placed by, or by
permission of, such local agencies with directional information advising
motorists where to turn. The business shall have the responsibility for
arranging with the appropriate local agency for the placement of all signs on
roads under the jurisdiction of that local agency.
Notes
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