Senate Bill S9549

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9549

SPONSOR: RITCHIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to authorizing the commissioner of transportation to
issue a permit exempting certain signs

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This legislation will authorize the Department of Transportation (DOT)
to rectify an unforeseen issue that resulted from the passage of the
State Scenic Byway law within the town of Alexandria.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Authorizes the commissioner of DOT to issue an exemption
pursuant to section 342-f of the highway law for any sign that was
constructed in reliance upon a building permit issued by the town of
Alexandria in 1988 and 2022, provided application is made to the commis-
sioner of transportation within 180 days of the effective date of this
act.
              

Section 2. Authorizes the commissioner of DOT to issue an exemption
pursuant to section 349- dd (1)(c) of the highway law for any sign that
was constructed in reliance upon a building permit issued by the town of
Alexandria in 1988 and 2022, provided application is made to the commis-
sioner of transportation within 180 days of the effective date of this
act.  Directs the Commissioner of DOT to promulgate rules and regu-
lations in regards to this exemption.

Section 3. Directs the Commissioner of DOT to promulgate rules and regu-
lations in regards to this exemption.

Section 4. This act sale take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

As a result of the passage of the "Seaway Trail" law, some long time
billboards along Route 12 in the town of Alexandria are facing the
expensive proposition of having to be moved or removed. This legislation
will authorize (DOT) to review this policy and make certain exemptions
if it will not impact federal funding for the Scenic Byway program.

Some of the billboards on Route 12 in the town of Alexandria, which have
been in place since for more than 30 years, were damaged due to severe
weather and now require rebuilding. The town of Alexandria is in support
of the rebuilding request, however, legislation is required to allow DOT
to allow the rebuilding. Failure to allow this legislation to move
forward will be unfair to business owners and the local economy.

This bill will authorize DOT to grant a permit authorizing the rebuild-
ing of such long time billboards which are already supported by the town
of Alexandria.

This law will also give DOT the discretion to deny the permit if it
determines that the issuance will result in a significant loss of feder-
al funding for the Scenic Byway program. Therefore, this legislation
balances the benefits of the Scenic Byway law while affording DOT the
ability to provide equitable relief to local businesses unfairly
aggrieved by the law.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New legislation.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE MID LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.