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Chapter 0068 - 572R - H Ver of SB1232
House Engrossed
Senate Bill
military
compatibility permit zoning
(now: sign; military
compatibility permit zoning)
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
CHAPTER 68
SENATE BILL 1232
AN
ACT
Amending section 28-7902, Arizona Revised
Statutes; relating to outdoor advertising.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAG
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section
1.
1. Section
28-7902, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
28-7902.
Outdoor advertising
authorized
A. The following outdoor advertising may be placed
or maintained along an interstate, secondary or primary system within six
hundred sixty feet of the edge of the right-of-way:
1. Directional or other official signs or notices
that are required or authorized by law, including signs pertaining to natural
wonders and scenic and historic attractions.
2. Signs, displays and devices that are located on
the premises of the activity that they advertise. This paragraph
applies to any sign that is located on the premises of a comprehensive
development that the sign advertises if the placement of the sign does not
cause a reduction of federal aid highway monies pursuant to 23 United States
Code section 131. For the purposes of this paragraph, "activity"
means the active use or collective uses of the premises.
3. Signs, displays and devices advertising the sale
or lease of the property on which they are located.
4. Signs, displays and devices lawfully placed after
April 1, 1970 in business areas.
5. Signs, displays and devices lawfully placed after
either:
(a) July 1, 1974 in zoned or unzoned commercial or
industrial areas inside municipal limits.
(b) April 1, 1972 in unzoned commercial or
industrial areas outside municipal limits.
6. Signs, displays and devices that are lawfully
existing on April 1, 1970 and that are located in business areas and in
zoned commercial or industrial areas outside municipal limits.
7. Signs, displays and devices lawfully existing on
either:
(a) July 1, 1974 that are located in zoned or
unzoned commercial or industrial areas inside municipal limits.
(b) April 1, 1972 in unzoned commercial or
industrial areas outside municipal limits.
8. Nonconforming tourist related advertising
displays that are lawfully erected and in existence on May 5, 1976, that are
located in defined hardship areas, that provide specific directional
information to the traveling public and that are approved by the United States
secretary of transportation pursuant to 23 United States Code section 131(o).
9. A sign located in a charter city adjacent to an
interstate highway with a changing message for identification of businesses
that are located on separate contiguous parcels and that are part of a single
development approved by a city council as part of a development agreement
entered into before April 22, 1990. The changing message may not contain words
or phrases that continuously travel or scroll in a manner that presents a
message longer than may be displayed on the sign at one instant in
time. The director may adopt rules governing the interval within
which a message may be displayed or changed. This paragraph does not
alter, change or affect any other statute, rule, regulation, policy or
interpretation concerning the use of signs with changing messages or the
ownership of property on which the signs are located.
10. Signs, DISPLAYS and devices
that are lawfully placed on a property that
meets
all of the following:
(
a
) is located
Within a military airport and ancillary military facility overlay zoning
district.
(
b
) has been
granted a military COMPATIBILITY permit that allows commercial or
industrial uses and that was not
granted PRIMARILY to
allow outdoor ADVERTISING structures.
(
c
) Is located
in a high noise or accident POTENTIAL zone as defined in section 28-8461,
paragraph 9, subdivision (
a
).
(
d
) has been
approved through a public hearing held by the local JURISDICTION or county.
B. Outdoor advertising authorized under subsection
A, paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 shall conform with standards contained and shall bear
permits required in rules adopted by the director under this article, except
that the authorized outdoor advertising along highways in the secondary system
that are not state highways need only bear permits required by the responsible
county or municipal authority.
C. Outdoor advertising authorized under subsection
A, paragraphs 6 and 7 need not conform to standards contained but shall bear
permits required in rules adopted by the director under this article, except
that the authorized outdoor advertising along highways in the secondary system
that are not state highways need only bear permits required by the responsible
county or municipal authority.
D. If preservation would be consistent with this
article, signs may be preserved or maintained if they were lawfully in
existence on October 22, 1965 and if the director determines, subject to the
approval of the United States secretary of transportation as provided for by 23
United States Code section 131(c), that they are landmark signs, including
signs on farm structures or natural surfaces, of historic or artistic
significance.
E. Outdoor advertising that conforms to standards
and bears a permit pursuant to subsection B or C of this section may include
electronic outdoor advertising only if the electronic outdoor advertising meets
the following requirements:
1. The electronic outdoor advertising does not
contain any form of animation and remains static for at least eight seconds
with a transition time of no greater than two seconds.
2. Except as provided
in subsection H or I of this section, the electronic outdoor advertising is
located within the area with the following coordinates:
Beginning at state route 95 at
mile marker two hundred fifty in Bullhead City, to all points within this state
that are within a radius of forty miles from that location, except excluding
state route 95 south of interstate 40 and any area east of state route 93 from
mile marker forty-two to the Hoover dam, and also including latitude 33.9
north, longitude 114.5 west, hence due east to latitude 33.9 north, longitude
112.25 west, hence following the circumference of a circle with a radius of
seventy-five miles from the coordinates of the discovery channel
telescope to latitude 33.66 north, longitude 111.23 west, hence due south to
latitude 33.46 north, longitude 111.23 west, hence following the circumference
of a circle with a radius of seventy-five miles from the coordinates of
the Mount Lemmon observatory to latitude 33.02 north, longitude 111.91 west,
hence following the circumference of a circle with a radius of seventy-five
miles from the coordinates of Kitt Peak observatory to latitude 32.6 north,
longitude 112.65 west, hence due west to latitude 32.6 north, longitude 114.802
west, and hence north along the Colorado river to the point of beginning.
3. Except as provided in paragraph 4 of this
subsection, from sunset until 11:00 P.M., the dimmer for electronic outdoor
advertising signs, displays and devices shall not be set to exceed three
hundred forty-two NITS in full white mode for signs that are smaller than
six hundred seventy-two square feet in area and three hundred NITS in
full white mode for signs that are equal to or larger than six hundred seventy-two
square feet in area.
4. For coordinates beginning at state route 95 at
mile marker two hundred fifty in Bullhead City, to all points within this state
that are within a radius of forty miles from that location from sunset until
11:00 P.M., the dimmer for electronic outdoor advertising signs, displays
and devices shall not be set to exceed two hundred NITS in full white mode for
all signs.
5. From 11:00 P.M. until sunrise, illumination
shall be extinguished and electronic outdoor advertising signs, displays and
devices shall be equipped with an automatic device to ensure compliance with
this paragraph, except for amber alerts and other governmental
emergencies. The automatic device shall have the ability to dim the
display through a photoelectric sensor that detects ambient light levels and
adjusts the display intensity automatically to ensure the maximum NIT levels
are enforced.
6. The electronic outdoor advertising shall comply
with the size and spacing limitations prescribed in section 28-7905, and
for coordinates beginning at state route 95 at mile marker two hundred fifty in
Bullhead City, to all points within this state that are within a radius of
forty miles from that location, the number of electronic outdoor advertising
signs, displays and devices shall not exceed thirty-five.
F. The director shall prepare a pictorial
representation of the coordinates described in subsection E, paragraph 2 of
this section. The director shall post the pictorial representation
on the department's website.
G. The owner of any outdoor advertising that is
within the area described in subsection E, paragraph 2 of this section, that
bears a permit pursuant to subsection B or C of this section and that is
converted to electronic outdoor advertising shall notify the department of the
face-type status change. The notice shall include a
certification that the sign remains in compliance with this
section. The department shall maintain the face-type status change
documents in its records. After May 9, 2012, the conversion of
outdoor advertising to electronic outdoor advertising is only allowed in the
area described in subsection E, paragraph 2 of this section.
H. Electronic outdoor advertising is deemed to have
legal nonconforming status for the purposes of state law, including for the
purposes of any permits and approvals issued by the department, if both of the
following apply:
1. The electronic outdoor advertising is both
operational and bears a permit pursuant to subsection B or C of this section
before May 9, 2012.
2. The electronic outdoor advertising is not located
within the area described in subsection E, paragraph 2 of this section.
I. Electronic outdoor advertising in existence and
operational as of May 9, 2012 is deemed to have legal conforming status for the
purposes of state law, including for the purposes of any permits and approvals
issued by the department if both of the following apply:
1. The electronic outdoor advertising bears a permit
pursuant to subsection B or C of this section.
2. The electronic outdoor advertising is located
within the area described in subsection E, paragraph 2 of this section.
J. The electronic outdoor advertising that is
described in subsection H or I of this section is subject to the requirements
prescribed by subsection E, paragraphs 1, 3, 4 and 5.
K. A city, town or county shall not issue a permit
for conversion of an existing outdoor advertising use to an electronic outdoor
advertising use after May 9, 2012 if the existing outdoor advertising is not
located in the area described in subsection E, paragraph 2 of this section.
L. This section does
not prevent a city, town or county from enforcing or enacting an ordinance
regulating outdoor advertising that is authorized by subsection E of this
section, including the lighting of the outdoor advertising. The
city, town or county may enact an ordinance that is more restrictive than this
section but not less restrictive than this section.
END_STATUTE
APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR MAY 29, 2026.
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE MAY 29, 2026.