{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-69-69-1278","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 69, § 69-1278","heading":"Signs becoming nonconforming - Removal - Exemptions","body":"A. If, after March 28, 1972, any lawfully erected outdoor\n\nadvertising sign, display or device becomes nonconforming under the\n\nprovisions of Section 1271 et seq. of this title, such outdoor\n\nadvertising sign, display or device shall not be required to be\n\nremoved but shall be reclassified as a legal nonconforming structure\n\nand allowed to remain within prescribed guidelines for such signs.\n\nProvided, however, that notwithstanding the provisions of this\n\nsubsection, any such outdoor advertising sign, display or device\n\nwhich was erected after July 1, 1975, and located in a control area\n\nbeyond six hundred sixty (660) feet from the nearest edge of the\n\nright-of-way, and which becomes nonconforming as a result of Section\n\n1271 et seq. of this title, is subject to removal after April 14,\n\n1978. Provided, further, signs legally erected prior to July 1,\n\n1975, in a control area beyond six hundred sixty (660) feet of the\n\nnearest edge of the right-of-way of a controlled highway, which do\n\nnot conform to the provisions of Section 1271 et seq. of this title,\n\nshall not be required to be removed before July 1, 1980.\n\nB. The requirements herein contained pertaining to the size,\n\nlighting or spacing of signs permitted in business areas shall apply\n\nonly to those signs erected subsequent to April 15, 1968, except for\n\nthose signs erected within six (6) months after April 15, 1968,\n\nunder a lease dated prior to April 15, 1968, and filed with the\n\nDepartment within thirty (30) days following April 15, 1968.\n\nC. Directional signs, displays or devices lawfully erected\n\nprior to May 5, 1976, may be exempted from removal where the\n\nfollowing conditions exist:\n\n1. The signs, displays or devices provide directional\n\ninformation to goods and services in the interest of the traveling\n\npublic;\n\n2. The signs, displays or devices are located within a defined\n\narea with definite geographic boundaries and which functions as an\n\neconomic unit;\n\n3. The Department of Transportation determines on the basis of\n\nan economic impact study that the removal of such signs, displays or\n\ndevices would work a substantial economic hardship in the defined\n\narea;\n\n4. The Department shall establish rules and regulations for the\n\nplacement of new information signs for economic hardship areas;\n\n5. The Department reviews its economic impact study\n\nperiodically and finds that continued exemption remains warranted;\n\n6. The United States Secretary of Transportation concurs in the\n\nDepartment's determination that exemption of signs, displays or\n\ndevices is warranted;\n\n7. The signs, displays or devices are thirty-two (32) square\n\nfeet or less in dimension and have been erected by a church\n\norganized under the provisions of Section 562 of Title 18 of the\n\nOklahoma Statutes and is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service\n\nunder Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as\n\namended.\n\nProvided, further, that removal of nonconforming directional\n\nsigns, displays and devices providing directional information about\n\ngoods and services in the interest of the traveling public, not\n\nexempted from removal pursuant to the provisions of this subsection,\n\nshall be deferred until all other nonconforming signs have been\n\nremoved from the federal-aid primary and interstate systems in this\n\nstate.","path":["OK Code","Title 69"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os69.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"63016e04b7203b8a6681001dfd8f1bcf873c3ec3f12105c5e83e9d64ba516637","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-69-69-1277","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-69-69-1279"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}