1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to highways; requiring revocation of outdoor 
  1.3             advertising permit when permit holder convicted of 
  1.4             illegal removal of vegetation; repealing requirement 
  1.5             that commissioner of transportation accept certain 
  1.6             local zoning ordinances relating to outdoor 
  1.7             advertising control; requiring commissioner to 
  1.8             consider objections before entering into agreement for 
  1.9             vegetation control on trunk highway right-of-way; 
  1.10            amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 173.13, 
  1.11            subdivision 10; 173.16, subdivision 5; and 173.171. 
  1.12  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.13     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 173.13, 
  1.14  subdivision 10, is amended to read: 
  1.15     Subd. 10.  [REVOCATION.] (a) The commissioner may revoke 
  1.16  any permit granted herein for cause upon 30 days' written notice 
  1.17  of such hearing to the permittee.  Such notice and hearing and 
  1.18  all rules with respect thereto shall be in accordance with 
  1.19  chapter 14.  The commissioner within ten days after hearing 
  1.20  shall notify the permittee what the permittee must do to retain 
  1.21  the permit and the permittee shall have 30 days therefrom in 
  1.22  which to comply with the order of the commissioner. 
  1.23     (b) The commissioner shall revoke a permit for an 
  1.24  advertising device upon receiving notice that the permit holder 
  1.25  was convicted of a violation of section 160.22, for illegally 
  1.26  removing vegetation from the right-of-way adjacent to the land 
  1.27  on which the advertising device is located. 
  1.28     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 173.16, 
  2.1   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subd. 5.  [LOCAL CONTROL.] (1) Whenever a bona fide county 
  2.3   or local zoning authority has made a legitimate determination of 
  2.4   customary usage and in the judgment of the commissioner, 
  2.5   reasonably provides for size, lighting and spacing control of 
  2.6   advertising devices, such determination shall be accepted in 
  2.7   lieu of the provisions of this chapter in the zoned commercial 
  2.8   and industrial areas within the geographical jurisdiction of 
  2.9   such authority. 
  2.10     (2) All county and local zoning authorities shall give 
  2.11  notice to the commissioner of transportation of the 
  2.12  establishment or revision of any commercial and industrial zones 
  2.13  pursuant to subdivision 1.  Notice shall be by certified mail 
  2.14  sent to the office of the commissioner of transportation in St. 
  2.15  Paul, Minnesota, within 15 days after the effective date of the 
  2.16  zoning change or establishment. 
  2.17     (3) The commissioner may not disapprove any zoning 
  2.18  ordinance adopted by a county or local zoning authority that has 
  2.19  the effect of establishing a business area unless the zoning 
  2.20  ordinance would result in the loss to the state of federal 
  2.21  highway funds. 
  2.22     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 173.171, is 
  2.23  amended to read: 
  2.24     173.171 [VEGETATION CONTROL; VISIBILITY; AGREEMENT.] 
  2.25     (a) The commissioner of the department of transportation 
  2.26  may enter into agreements with the owners of advertising devices 
  2.27  not prohibited under this chapter and lawfully erected and 
  2.28  maintained in adjacent areas, or with the owners of the real 
  2.29  property on which the advertising devices are located, providing 
  2.30  for the control of vegetation on the right-of-way in the 
  2.31  vicinity of the advertising devices to ensure their visibility 
  2.32  from the highway.  The agreements shall provide that:  
  2.33     (1) the cost of any vegetation control measures will be 
  2.34  paid for by the owner of the advertising device or the owner of 
  2.35  the real property on which it is located; and 
  2.36     (2) any control measures will be carried out in a safe, 
  3.1   workmanlike manner.  
  3.2      (b) Before entering into an agreement under this section, 
  3.3   the commissioner shall make reasonable efforts to determine if 
  3.4   the owners of real property adjacent to the property that is the 
  3.5   subject of the agreement, and political subdivisions in which 
  3.6   the property is located, object to the agreement.  The 
  3.7   commissioner shall consider these objections in determining 
  3.8   whether to enter into the agreement.