14-014 Code Vt. R. 14-054-014-X - RULE NO. 14: LOCATION OF OFFICIAL BUSINESS DIRECTIONAL SIGNS

a. Except where a hardship to the traveling public can be demonstrated by the applicant, the location of official business directional signs, in addition to those restrictions contained in Title 10 V.S.A. Chapter 21, and the Traffic Safety Regulations adopted pursuant to Section 490 thereof, shall be subject to the following conditions:

1. Official business directional signs shall be located in the same town as the applicant/business, service or point of interest to which the sign directs attention, unless one or more of the following conditions are present:

(a) the location of the sign must be in a town other than that of the applicant/business in order to satisfy the Traffic Safety Regulations. In such a case the sign shall be located as close to the business' turnoff as possible;

(b)

(1) the business is located on a highway which does not have a state-assigned route number, and

(2) the turnoff from the numbered route is in another town, and

(3) this turnoff is the business' only access point from the nearest highway with a State-assigned route number;

(c) there is an absence of State destination signs directing travelers to the town in which the business is located; or

(d) the absence of an official business directional sign creates a safety hazard for the traveling public.

2. Official business directional signs shall be located prior to those intersections of public highways where the traveler must change direction from one highway to another highway in order to reach the business or point of interest. However, individual official business directional signs shall not be approved on highways where there is an information directional sign which directs travelers to a state or locally operated information plaza or information office or booth and travel to that information source will cause neither undue inconvenience to the traveler nor traffic congestion.

3. Signs may be approved on the same highway as the business, or its legal on-premise signing, only when, in the opinion of the Travel Information Council, the traveling public is subject to an unsafe situation without one or more official business directional signs. For the purposes of these rules, an unsafe situation shall exist when there is insufficient visibility of the business's on-premise signing which cannot be improved by the applicant/business; such as:

(a) obstructions on applicant/business' property which cannot be removed;

(b) obstructions on adjoining property which the adjoining property owner cannot or will not remove;

(c) physical or natural features which the Travel Information Council finds cannot be altered or removed by the applicant/business;

(d) or some other circumstance over which the applicant/business has no control.

4. Consideration will be given to limitations placed on the size, location or design of on-premise signing by local zoning ordinances which cannot be waived. The safety hazard may exist when a traveler who is specifically looking for the applicant/business has insufficient advance visibility of the business' on-premise signing to allow the traveler to signal, slow and turn into its driveway safely. Adequate visibility shall be determined by the Travel Information Council in consultation with the Agency of Transportation.

b. In all cases where the applicant believes that the proposed location for an official business directional sign should be approved because of hardship to the traveler, where the proposed location fails to satisfy conditions 1, 2 or 3 of Section a above, the applicant shall submit to the district committee a claim of hardship together with any evidence he/she wishes to present in support of his/her claim. Where hardship has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the district committee, it may approve locations for official business directional signs which are otherwise in violation of sub sections 1, 2 or 3 of Section a of this rule. Where hardship has not been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the district committee, it shall disapprove the application. In all cases where the applicant claims exception to sub sections 1, 2 or 3 of Section a because of hardship, the district committee shall state with particularity the reasons for which it approves or disapproves the application.

c. In all cases where hardship is claimed by the applicant, the determination of the district committee shall be subject to review by the Travel Information Council.

d. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to limit the right provided by law to any applicant or other person to appeal any decision of a district committee.

e. Pursuant to Title 10 V.S.A. Section 499(c), the following procedure is established whereby all official business directional signs previously approved as hardship exceptions to Section a, sub sections 1, 2 or 3 will be reviewed periodically for conformance with current policies and regulations, and those found to be nonconforming will be removed at the end of their current license year. On or before March 1 of each year, the Sign Control Section and the Travel Information Council district committees will review approximately one-third of all official business directional signs and determine which appear to be non-conforming with present policies and regulations of the Travel Information Council and the Traffic Safety Regulations adopted pursuant to Title 10 V.S.A. Section 490. They will submit recommendations to the Travel Information Council as to which official business directional signs are non-conforming. The Council will determine which signs are non-conforming and will so advise the applicant/business by letter. The letter will notify the applicant/business of its opportunity to petition the Travel Information Council for review of the determination of non-conformance.

If the applicant/business so petitions within 30 days of the date of the letter, an appeal hearing will be scheduled. If the applicant/business is able to prove that there is sufficient hardship on which to base continued approval of the official business directional sign as a hardship exception to this rule, the Council may vote to renew the license for one more year or until the next scheduled review. If the applicant/business is not able to show that there is sufficient justification on which to approve the hardship exception, the Council may vote not to renew the license, in which case the sign will be removed at the end of the current licensing year. The applicant/business has the right to judicial review of the Council's decision under Title 10 V.S.A. Section 484(d).

Notes

14-014 Code Vt. R. 14-054-014-X