CHAPTER 619

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 88-808, as amended, 38-808, as amended

and 83-822 of the Code of Virginia, relating to fees for outdoor
advertising.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 33-303, as amended, 33-308, as amended, and 38-322 of the
Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 33-303. No person shall engage or continue in the business of out-
door advertising in this State outside of the corporate limits of munic-
ipalities without first obtaining a license therefor from the Commissioner.
The fee for such license, hereby imposed for revenue for the use of the
State, shall be * two hundred dollars per annum, payable annually in
advance. Applications for licenses, or renewal of licenses, shall be made
on forms furnished by the Commissioner, shall contain such information
as the Commissioner may require and shall be accompanied by the annual
fee. Licenses granted under this section shall expire on the thirty-first
day of December of each year and shall not be prorated. Applications for
renewal of licenses shall be made not less than thirty days prior to the
date of expiration. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require
any person who advertises upon a structure or fixture on his property
or a licensed advertiser’s structure or other space to obtain a license.

§ 33-308. A separate application for a permit shall be made for
each separate advertisement or advertising structure, on a form furnished
by the Commissioner, which application shall be signed by the applicant
or his representative duly authorized in writing to act for him and shall
describe and set forth the size, shape and the nature of the advertisement
or advertising structure it is proposed to post, display, erect or maintain
and its actual or proposed location with sufficient accuracy to enable the
Commissioner to identify such advertisement or advertising structure and
to find its actual or proposed location.

Each application shall be accompanied by an application fee in an
amount determined as follows on the basis of the area of the advertise-
ment or advertising structure for which the permit is sought, according
to the following schedule:
feet ( 1) * One dollar if * such area does not exceed seventy-four square

eet *;

(2) * Four dollars * if such area exceeds seventy-four square feet but
does not exceed four hundred and twenty-four square feet;

(3) * Siz dollars if such area exceeds four hundred and twenty-
pour square feet but does not exceed six hundred and twenty-four square

eet; an

(4) An additional * three dollars * for each two hundred square feet
of such area in excess of six hundred and twenty-four square feet.

In the computation of fees under this section each side of an adver-
tisement or advertising structure used or constructed to be used shall be
separately considered.

The fee shall be retained by the Commissioner if the permit is issued.
If the permit is refused, the Commissioner shall refund one-half the
application fee to the applicant if the application fee does not exceed *
two dollars; if the application fee exceeds * two dollars the Commissioner
shall upon refusal of the permit return to the applicant all of the applica-
tion fee in excess of * two dollars.

Each application shall be accompanied by the written consent, or in
lieu thereof a copy certified by an officer authorized to take acknowledg-
ments to deeds in this State, of the owner of the real property upon
which such advertisement or advertising structure is to be erected, used,
maintained, posted or displayed, or of such other person having the legal
right to grant such consent, or of the duly authorized agent of such
owner, or other person; provided, that in the marsh or meadowland owned
by the Commonwealth along either side of the causeway leading from the
mainland to the town of Chincoteague, the legal right to grant such con-
sent shall be vested in the governing body of such town.
Application shall be made in like manner for a permit to use, main-
tain or display any existing advertisement or advertising structure.

§ 83-322. All monies received by the Commissioner under the pro-
visions of this article shall be paid by him into the State treasury and
allocated to the State Highway Commission for use in the * regulation
and control of outdoor advertising and landscaping of highways.