19A NCAC 02E .0609      ISSUANCE OR DENIAL OF SELECTIVE VEGETATION REMOVAL PERMIT FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

(a)  Pursuant to G.S. 136-133.2, within 30 days following receipt of the application for a selective vegetation removal permit for outdoor advertising, including the fee set out in G.S. 136-18.7, the Division Engineer shall approve or deny the application.

(b)  The application shall be denied by the Division Engineer if:

(1)           the application is for an outdoor advertising location where the outdoor advertising permit is less than two years old pursuant to G.S. 136-133.2;

(2)           the application is for the opening of a view to a sign that has been declared illegal pursuant to G.S. 136-134, whose permit has been revoked, or is currently involved in litigation with the Department;

(3)           it is determined by Department personnel that removal of vegetation shall diminish a planting installed for headlight screening and affect the safety of the traveling public;

(4)           the application is for the removal of vegetation planted in accordance with a local, State, or federal beautification project prior to September 1, 2011 or prior to the issuance of an outdoor advertising permit for the erection of the applicable outdoor advertising structure, whichever date is later, unless a mitigating replanting plan related to the site for which the vegetation permit request is made, as set forth in Rule .0611 of this Section, except for the provisions in Paragraph (d) and Subparagraph (g)(11); and is agreed upon in writing by the applicant, the Department, and, if applicable, the Federal Highway Administration;

(5)           on two previous occasions, the applicant failed to meet the requirements of a selective vegetation removal permit, unless the applicant engages a landscape contractor to perform the current work;

(6)           the application is for removal of vegetation that will open views to junkyards;

(7)           the requested site is subject to a five-year moratorium for willful failure to substantially comply with all requirements specified in a prior selective vegetation removal permit pursuant to G.S. 136-133.4(e);

(8)           the applicant fails to complete the requirements of the application as set forth in Rule .0608 of this Section;

(9)           any cutting, thinning, pruning, or removal of vegetation encompassing the entirety of the maximum vegetation cutting or removal zone is prohibited due to conditions affecting the right-of-way to which the State is subjected or agrees in writing to subject itself, including conservation agreements, prior to September 1, 2011 or prior to the issuance of an outdoor advertising permit for the erection of the applicable outdoor advertising structure, whichever date is later, or due to the application at any time of State statutes or rules or federal statutes or regulations, including any conditions mandated as part of the issuance of a permit to the Department for a construction project by a federal or State agency with jurisdiction over the construction project. The Department may mitigate within the right-of-way in the cut zone of a permitted outdoor advertising structure so long as trees and other plant materials for mitigation may not be of a projected mature height to decrease the visibility of a sign face, and such mitigation vegetation may not be cut or removed pursuant to a selective vegetation removal permit; or

(10)         a modified vegetation removal zone application request along acceleration or deceleration ramps is not in accordance with G.S. 136-133.1(a1) or Rule .0612 of this Section.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 136-18(5); 136-18(7); 136-18(9); 136-93; 136-130; 136-133.1(a1); 136-133.2; 136-133.3; 136-133.4; 136-134;

Temporary Adoption Eff. March 1, 2012;

Eff. February 1, 2013;

Amended Eff. January 1, 2015;

Readopted Eff. June 1, 2020.