1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to highways; defining business area; 
  1.3             restricting location of advertising devices in zoned 
  1.4             business areas; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.5             sections 173.02, subdivision 9; 173.16, by adding a 
  1.6             subdivision. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 173.02, 
  1.9   subdivision 9, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 9.  [BUSINESS AREA.] "Business area" means any part 
  1.11  of an adjacent area which is (a) zoned for business, industrial 
  1.12  or commercial activities under the authority of any law of this 
  1.13  state or any political subdivision thereof, and on which is 
  1.14  located one or more permanent structures devoted to a commercial 
  1.15  or industrial activity, or on which a commercial or industrial 
  1.16  activity is actually conducted whether or not a permanent 
  1.17  structure is located thereon; or (b) not so zoned, but which 
  1.18  constitutes an unzoned commercial or industrial area as herein 
  1.19  defined. 
  1.20     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 173.16, is 
  1.21  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.22     Subd. 4a.  [LOCATION IN ZONED AREA.] Notwithstanding any 
  1.23  other law, an advertising device located in an adjacent area 
  1.24  that is zoned for business, industrial, or commercial activities 
  1.25  may only be located within 800 feet of the outermost edge of a 
  1.26  structure in the zoned area devoted to commercial or industrial 
  2.1   activity or, if no structure is in place, from the outermost 
  2.2   edge of a commercial or industrial activity in the zoned area.  
  2.3   Each side of the highway will be considered separately in 
  2.4   applying this requirement.  All measurements must be from the 
  2.5   outer edges of the regularly used buildings, parking lots, 
  2.6   storage or processing, and landscaped areas of the commercial or 
  2.7   industrial activity, not from the property lines of the 
  2.8   activity, and must be along or parallel to the edge of the 
  2.9   pavement of the highway.