-
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
The Director of the D.C. Department of Transportation pursuant to the authority set forth in §§ 6(b) and 7 of the Department of Transportation Establishment Act of 2002, effective May 21, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-137, D.C. Official Code §§ 50-921.05(b) and 50-921.06) (2009 Repl.); Section 422 of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act of 1973, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 790; D.C. Official Code § 1-204.22 (2006 Repl. & 2011 Supp.)); Title VI of the Fiscal Year 1997 Budget Support Act of 1996, effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-198; D.C. Official Code §§ 10-1141.01, et seq. (2008 Repl. & 2011 Supp.)); and Mayor’s Order 96-8, dated February 9, 1996, hereby gives notice of this final action to adopt the following rules to amend chapter 1 of title 24 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations. This rulemaking allows all signs that are not lewd, indecent, or vulgar, or do not pictorially represent the commission of or the attempt to commit any crime to be posted on a structure in a public space for one hundred eighty (180) days, and require that a sign related to a specific event be removed no later than thirty (30) days following the event to which it is related.
Proposed Regulations were published in a Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking on September 30, 2011, in the D.C. Register at 58 DCR 8410. DDOT received seven hundred forty-six (746) comments submitted in response to this rulemaking and a previous Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published on August 26, 2011, in the D.C. Register at 58 DCR 7688, amending the same section, DCMR Title 24, Chapter 1, Section 108. Of these unique comments only one (1) directly addressed the proposed rulemaking. This comment expressed concern over the ambiguity of the definition of an “event” suggesting it would lead to inconsistent and possibly selective enforcement of provisions governing how long a posting can remain in a public space. DDOT addressed this concern with the September 30, 2011, Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking by including a definition of an “event” as it pertains to non-commercial advertising. No substantive changes were made to the text of the proposed rulemaking.
DDOT adopted the rules as final on January 12, 2012. The rules will go into effect upon the date of publication of this Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register.
Title 24 DCMR, chapter 1, OCCUPATION AND USE OF PUBLIC SPACE, section 108, SIGNS, POSTERS, AND PLACARDS, is amended as follows:
Subsections 108.5 and 108.6 are amended to read as follows:
108.5 A sign, advertisement, or poster shall be affixed for no more than one hundred eighty (180) days.
108.6 A sign, advertisement, or poster related to a specific event shall be removed no later than thirty (30) days following the event to which it is related. This subsection does not extend the time limit in subsection 108.5.
Subsection 108.11 is amended to read as follows:
108.11 Within twenty-four (24) hours of posting each sign, advertisement, or poster, two (2) copies of the material shall be filed with an agent of the District of Columbia so designated by the Mayor. The filing shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the originator of the sign, advertisement, or poster, and if the sign is for an event, the date of the event.
A new subsection 108.13 is added to read as follows:
108.13 For purposes of this section, the term “event” refers to an occurrence, happening, activity or series of activities, specific to an identifiable time and place, if referenced on the poster itself or reasonably determined from all circumstances by the inspector.
