WAC 468-70-050   Business eligibility.  (1) To be eligible for placement of a business sign on a motorist information sign panel a motorist service activity must conform to the following standards:

     (a) Gas activity:

     (i) Provide vehicle services including fuel, oil, tire repair and water; and

     (ii) Be in continuous operation at least sixteen hours a day, seven days a week; and

     (iii) Provide restroom facilities, drinking water and a telephone access;

     (iv) Motorist information sign panels may be installed and existing signing will not be removed when the motorist service activity is closed for a short period of time or when its hours of operation have been reduced as a result of a shortage of gasoline;

     (v) Activities not meeting the tire repair requirement of (i) of this subsection but have gas, oil, and water may qualify for signing provided that the motorist information sign panel displays fewer than the full complement of business signs. A telephone must also be available at no cost for a person to use to acquire tire repair;

     (vi) Business signs for card-lock gas activities may be installed, provided that the activities serve the general motoring public, without membership, and accept a variety of credit cards available to the general public. Card-lock gas activities must also meet the applicable requirements of (a)(i) through (v) of this subsection.

     (b) Food activity:

     (i) Be licensed or approved by the county health office; and

     (ii) Food activities in fee zones 1 and 2 shall be in continuous operation to serve meals for a minimum of ten hours a day six days a week, and food activities in fee zone 3 shall be in continuous operation to serve meals for a minimum of eight hours a day six days a week; and

     (iii) Have inside seating for a minimum of twenty patrons and parking facilities for a minimum of ten vehicles; and

     (iv) If curb service is provided, have a minimum of ten drive-in service stalls; and

     (v) Provide telephone and restroom facilities.

     (c) Lodging activity:

     (i) Be licensed or approved by the Washington department of health; and

     (ii) Provide adequate sleeping and bathroom accommodations available without reservations for rental on a daily basis; and

     (iii) Provide public telephone facilities.

     (d) Camping activity (applicable only for activities available from interstate highways):

     (i) Have a valid business license;

     (ii) Consist of at least twenty camping spaces and have adequate parking, modern sanitary and drinking water facilities for such spaces; and

     (iii) Have an attendant on duty to manage and maintain the facility twenty-four hours a day while in operation.

     (e) Recreation activity (applicable only for activities available from noninterstate highways):

     (i) Consist of activities and sports of interest to family groups and the public generally in which people participate for purposes of active physical exercise, collective amusement or enjoyment of nature; e.g., hiking, golfing, skiing, boating, swimming, picnicking, camping, fishing, tennis, horseback riding, ice skating and gun clubs; and

     (ii) Be licensed or approved by the state or local agency regulating the particular type of business; and

     (iii) When the recreational activity is a campground, it must meet the criteria specified in WAC 468-70-050 (1)(d)(i) thru (iii).

     (iv) Activities must be open to the motoring public without appointment, at least six hours a day, five days a week including Saturday and/or Sunday.

     (f) Tourist-oriented business activity:

     (i) A natural, recreational, historical, cultural, educational, or entertainment activity, or a unique or unusual commercial or nonprofit activity, the major portion of whose income or visitors are derived during its normal business seasons from motorists not residing in the immediate area of the activity.

     (ii) Be listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, on the Washington Heritage Register, or as a National Historic Landmark with the state's office of archaeology and historic preservation. Signs on private property that mark the entrance to the historic district and a letter of support by the jurisdictional local agency are required.

     (iii) Be a commercial district as adopted by a city ordinance or resolution with a minimum of one million square feet of leasable commercial space located within one square mile. The commercial district must provide a unique commercial activity where the majority of the district's customers do not reside in the city where the commercial district is located. The commercial district shall be located within one mile of the nearest state highway. Only the name of the commercial district will be displayed on the business sign. Corporate logos may not be displayed.

     (iv) Activities must be open to the motoring public without appointment, at least six hours a day, five days a week including Saturday and/or Sunday.

     (g) Twenty-four-hour pharmacy:

     (i) Be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

     (ii) Have a state-licensed pharmacist present and on duty at all times.

     (2) To be eligible for a RV symbol on its business sign, the business or destination shall have amenities, designed to accommodate recreational and other large vehicles, including:

     (a) A hard-surfaced access to and from the business, that is free of potholes and is at least twelve feet wide with minimum turning radii of fifty feet.

     (b) The roadway access and parking facilities must be free of utility wires, tree branches, or other obstructions up to fourteen feet above the surfacing.

     (c) Facilities having short-term parking, such as restaurants and tourist attractions, must have a minimum of two parking spaces that are at least twelve feet wide and sixty-five feet long with a minimum turning radius of fifty feet for entering and exiting.

     (d) Fueling islands must be located to allow for pull-through with a minimum entering and exiting turning radius of fifty feet.

     (e) Canopied fueling islands must have a fourteen-foot minimum overhead clearance.

     (f) Fueling facilities selling diesel are required to have pumps with noncommercial nozzles.

     (g) For campgrounds, a minimum of two parking spaces at least eighteen feet wide and forty-five feet long are required.

     (h) Business activities must also post directional signing on the premises as needed to indicate RV-friendly parking spaces and other on-site RV-friendly services, so that the motorist is given additional guidance upon leaving the public highway and entering the property.

     (3) Distances prescribed herein will be measured from the center of the interchange or intersection along the centerline of the most direct public road to the facility access.

     (4) The maximum distance that gas, food, lodging, camping, recreational, or tourist-oriented activities can be located on either side of an interchange or intersection to qualify for a business sign shall be as follows:

     (a) From an interstate highway, gas, food, and lodging activities shall be located within three miles in either direction. Camping or tourist-oriented activities shall be located within five miles in either direction;

     (b) From a noninterstate highway, gas, food, lodging, recreation, or tourist-oriented activities shall be located within five miles in either direction.

     (c) A twenty-four-hour pharmacy must be located within three miles of an interstate or noninterstate highway.

     (d) Where there are fewer than the maximum number, as specified in WAC 468-70-060 (3)(a), of eligible services within the distance limits prescribed in (a) and (b) of this subsection, the distance limits may be increased up to a maximum of fifteen miles to complete the balance of allowable signs.

     (i) In reference to WAC 468-70-040(3), the department may erect and maintain signs on an alternate route that is longer than fifteen miles if it is safer and still provides reasonable and convenient travel to an eligible activity.

     (ii) The department may erect and maintain signs on a route up to a maximum of twenty miles if an activity qualifies as eligible and is located within a distressed area under the criteria set forth in chapter 43.168 RCW.

     (5) Within cities and towns having a population greater than twenty-five thousand, the department shall obtain concurrence from the municipality of locations for installing panels, and may request that the municipality install the panels.

     (6) A gas, food, lodging, camping/recreational, tourist-oriented, or twenty-four-hour pharmacy activity visible from the mainline at least three hundred feet prior to an intersection shall not qualify for a business sign on such highway. The activity's on-premise sign is considered part of that activity in determining the three hundred foot visibility.

     (7) When a multiple business activity qualifies for business sign placement on more than one type of motorist information sign panel, placement will be made on that type of panel which, as determined by the department, best describes the main product or service. Additional business signs for a qualifying multiple business activity may only be placed on more than one type of motorist information sign panel where the applicable panels display fewer than a full complement of business signs. Where these additional business signs complete the full complement of business signs on a motorist information sign panel, the most recently installed of such additional business signs shall be substituted for in the event that a qualifying single business activity applies to receive business signs.

     (8) Motorist information sign panels will not be erected and maintained by the department until adequate follow-through signing, as specified by the department, is erected on local roads and/or streets. Written assurance that the follow-through signs will be maintained is required.

     (9) Where operations are seasonal, business signs for each specific location shall be removed or covered during the appropriate period as determined by the department.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 47.36.030 and 47.36.320. 10-12-053, § 468-70-050, filed 5/27/10, effective 6/27/10; 09-18-056, § 468-70-050, filed 8/27/09, effective 9/27/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 47.36.030, 47.36.310, and 47.36.320. 06-15-018, § 468-70-050, filed 7/7/06, effective 8/7/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 47.36.310 and 47.36.320. 03-20-084, § 468-70-050, filed 9/30/03, effective 10/31/03. Statutory Authority: Chapter 34.05 RCW and RCW 47.42.060. 00-01-184 (Order 196), § 468-70-050, filed 12/22/99, effective 1/22/00. Statutory Authority: Chapter 47.42 RCW and RCW 47.01.101. 91-17-012 (Order 129), § 468-70-050, filed 8/13/91, effective 9/13/91. Statutory Authority: Chapter 47.42 RCW. 87-01-054 (Order 106), § 468-70-050, filed 12/16/86; 85-17-012 (Order 96), § 468-70-050, filed 8/12/85. Statutory Authority: RCW 47.42.060. 85-03-031 (Order 94), § 468-70-050, filed 1/10/85. Statutory Authority: 1977 ex.s. c 151. 79-01-033 (DOT Order 10 and Comm. Order 1, Resolution No. 13), § 468-70-050, filed 12/20/78. Formerly WAC 252-42-040.]