Tennessee § 54-17-103 - Chapter definitions.

§ 54-17-103. Chapter definitions.

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: “Advertise” means to establish an outdoor display by painting, pasting, or affixing on any surface, a picture, emblem, word, figure, numeral, or lettering for the purpose of making anything known; “Directional sign” means an official sign that identifies a site, attraction, or activity and directional information useful to a traveler in locating the site, attraction, or activity, including mileage, route numbers, or exit numbers; “Facility” means a commercial or industrial facility, or other facility open to the public, that operates with regular business hours on a year-round basis within a building or defined physical space, which may include a structure other than a building, together with any immediately adjacent parking areas; provided, that activity conducted in a temporary structure or a structure operated only on a seasonal basis may be considered a facility for the purpose of allowing an on-premises device to be located on the same property, but the device is only allowed on a temporary basis during the period the facility is actually conducting activity; “On-premises device” means a sign: That is located within fifty feet (50') of, and on the same parcel of property and on the same side of the highway as, the facility that owns or operates the sign or within fifty feet (50') of, and on the same parcel of property and on the same side of the highway as, the entrance to the parcel of property upon which two (2) or more facilities are located; and For which compensation is not being received and not intended to be received; “Outdoor advertising device”: Means a sign that is operated or owned by a person or entity that is earning compensation directly or indirectly from a third party or parties for the placement of a message on the sign; and Does not include a sign that is an on-premises device or other type of sign exempt from regulation under this chapter; “Scenic highway” means any highway, road, or sections of the highway or road designated as a scenic highway from time to time by the general assembly under this part; and “Sign” means an outdoor sign, light, display, device, figure, painting, drawing, message, placard, poster, billboard, or other thing which is designed, intended, or used to advertise or inform any part of the advertising or informative contents of which is visible from any place on the main traveled way of an interstate system or primary system. Acts 1971, ch. 431, § 3; 1976, ch. 819, § 2; modified; T.C.A., § 54-2503; Acts 2020, ch. 706, § 1. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2020, ch. 706, § 11 provided that notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if the department of transportation receives documentation from a federal agency that compliance with a provision of this act jeopardizes federal funding or grant money for the department, then the department shall promulgate emergency rules to address the area of noncompliance with the federal law referenced in the federal agency documentation. The department shall comply with each provision of this act that does not jeopardize the federal funding or grant money. The emergency rules promulgated pursuant to this section may conflict with and take precedence over statutory provisions to effectuate the purposes of this section. The commissioner of transportation shall deliver to the executive secretary of the Tennessee code commission a copy of the documentation from the federal agency. Amendments. The 2020 amendment, in the definition of “Advertisement”, substituted “Advertise” for “Advertisement” and “to establish an outdoor” for “the outdoor”; added the definitions of “Directional sign”, “Facility”, “On-premises device”, “Outdoor advertising device”, and “Sign”; and deleted the definition of “Sign, structure or advertising device”, which read: “means any structure, post, tree, fence, rock, rigid or semirigid, with or without advertising displayed on the device, situated upon or attached to real property outdoors, primarily for the purpose of furnishing a background or support upon which advertisement may be affixed.” Effective Dates. Acts 2020, ch. 706, § 12. June 22, 2020.