(a) The commissioner is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift, or condemnation, and to pay just compensation upon the removal of the following outdoor advertising devices in areas adjacent to the interstate and primary highway systems:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 54-21-107

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of transportation or the commissioner's designee. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Compensation: means the exchange of anything of value, including money, securities, real property interests, personal property interests, goods or services, promise of future payment, or forbearance of debt. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Department: means the department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Donor: The person who makes a gift.
  • Erect: means to construct, build, raise, assemble, place, affix, attach, create, paint, draw, or in any other way bring into being or establish, but does not apply to changes of copy treatment on an existing outdoor advertising device. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Nonconforming: means an outdoor advertising device that does not conform to the zoning, size, lighting, or spacing criteria established by and in accordance with either the current agreement entered into between the commissioner and the secretary of transportation of the United States, or in accordance with the original agreement entered into on or about November 11, 1971, as authorized in §. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Person: means and includes an individual, a partnership, an association, a corporation, or other entity. See Tennessee Code 54-21-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Those lawfully in existence on April 4, 1972; and
(2) Those lawfully erected on or after April 4, 1972.
(b)

(1) Compensation is authorized to be made only for the following:

(A) The taking from the owner of the outdoor advertising device of all right, title, leasehold, and interest in the outdoor advertising device; and
(B) The taking from the owner of the real property on which the outdoor advertising device is located, of the right to erect and maintain the outdoor advertising device on the property.
(2) If funds other than federal funds are used, the state shall follow the following order of purchasing priorities:

(A) Volunteer nonconforming outdoor advertising devices;
(B) Hardship situations;
(C) Normal value signs;
(D) Signs in areas that are designated scenic or parkway;
(E) Product advertising on:

(i) Rural interstate;
(ii) Rural primary; and
(iii) Urban areas;
(F) Non-tourist-oriented directional advertising; and
(G) Tourist-oriented devices.
(3) All funds other than federal funds, acquired by the state from whatever source for the purpose of acquiring nonconforming outdoor advertising devices, must be appropriated by the general assembly to the department and shall not be earmarked for acquisitions at any particular location.
(4) Funds obtained from private sources not appropriated within one (1) year revert to the donor.
(5) Upon funds being made available, owners of outdoor advertising device must be notified of the availability of the funds for the purpose of volunteering nonconforming outdoor advertising devices for purchase by the state.
(c) Upon the request of the commissioner, the owner of the outdoor advertising devices and the owner of the property upon which the outdoor advertising device is located who are seeking compensation as provided under subdivisions (b)(1)(A) and (B) shall present evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that the outdoor advertising device in question was in existence or lawfully erected, as the case may be, on, before, or after the appropriate dates set out in subdivisions (a)(1) and (2). Except by court order, the commissioner shall not make any payment under subdivisions (b)(1)(A) and (B) until the proof has been presented. Notwithstanding this chapter, those outdoor advertising devices legally in existence on April 4, 1972, are entitled to remain in place and in use until compensation for removal has been made as provided in this section.
(d) In determining whether any outdoor advertising device is lawful or unlawful, any failure to have obtained a license or permit, or to have attached a permit, or failure to have complied with setback requirements is not a cause for declaring any outdoor advertising device unlawful. Any person having constructed, erected, operated, used, maintained, or having caused or permitted any outdoor advertising device to be constructed, erected, operated, used, or maintained, shall pay the fee prescribed by § 54-21-104; provided, that the outdoor advertising device was erected prior to April 4, 1972.
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