Authority: IC 8-23-2-6; IC 8-23-20-25; IC 8-23-20-25.7

Affected: IC 8-23-20-25.6

Sec. 13.5. A conditional permit may be granted to any nonconforming sign, if the sign has not been substantially changed after the date it became a nonconforming sign, as follows:

(1) A nonconforming sign with a conditional permit must remain substantially the same as it was on the date that its status became nonconforming. A permittee may make customary maintenance or repair on a nonconforming sign. However, a nonconforming sign may not be the object of any activity after which the sign did not remain substantially the same as it was on the date that its status initially became a nonconforming sign, except for activities performed after an act described in subdivision (7)(A) through (7)(C) occurs. An activity prohibited by this subdivision automatically and permanently transforms the nonconforming sign's status to that of an illegal sign, with the permit for the sign subject to revocation, and the sign subject to removal by the department.

(2) Customary maintenance or repair on a nonconforming sign includes any of the following permissible activities, which do not require an addendum to a permit for the sign:

(A) Nailing, cleaning, and painting.

(B) Replacing nuts and bolts.

(C) Replacing structural components, including vertical supports and sign faces, with the same material so long as the sign is not destroyed.

(D) Changes in the advertising message.

(E) Upgrading existing lighting for energy efficiency or worker safety.

(F) Adding catwalks, safety cables, or handrails when required to resolve safety concerns by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the department of labor.

(G) The sale, lease, or transfer of the sign or its permit.

(3) Customary maintenance or repair on a nonconforming sign does not include any of the following prohibited activities, which are each considered a substantial change that automatically and permanently transforms the nonconforming sign into an illegal sign:

(A) Increasing the number of vertical supports or changing the vertical support materials, such as replacing wooden supports with metal or replacing I-beams with a monopole.

(B) Increasing the height of the sign.

(C) Changing the physical location.

(D) Changing the configuration of a sign structure, including changing a V-shaped sign to a stacked, side-by-side, or back-to-back sign, or changing a single face sign to a V-shaped, stacked, side-by-side, or back-to-back sign.

(E) Increasing the overall size or dimensions of the sign face, or any other addition of a sign face.

(F) Adding bracing, whether temporary or permanent, guy wires, concrete, or other reinforcing devices.

(G) Adding variable or changeable message capability.

(H) Adding lighting, either attached or unattached, to a sign that previously did not have lights, or adding more intense lighting to an illuminated sign, except as set forth in subdivision (2)(E).

(I) Rebuilding, repairing (other than customary maintenance or repair on a nonconforming sign), or reerecting a sign structure after substantial damage from wear and tear or other natural causes, unless the department has given its approval to do so by granting an addendum to the sign's permit under subdivision (5).

(J) Relocating all or a portion of a sign, unless relocating under IC 8-23-20-25.6(c)(2) and section 24.5 of this rule.

(K) Turning the direction of a sign face.

(L) Any repair, maintenance, or improvement that causes the sign to be erected or maintained in a way contrary to its conditional permit.

(4) The list of permitted activities in subdivision (2) and prohibited activities in subdivision (3) are not exclusive lists of those respective activities, and the department shall determine in each other situation whether:

(A) the sign remained substantially the same as it was on the date the sign became a nonconforming sign after the completion of any specific activity performed for the nonconforming sign; and

(B) the specific activity performed had the effect of substantially changing the nonconforming sign or materially extending the life of the nonconforming sign beyond its normal life.

It shall be presumed that any additional activities otherwise permitted involving replacing materials will materially extend the life of a nonconforming sign beyond its normal life, if the sign was destroyed when that activity was performed.

(5) If a permittee wishes to perform activities on a nonconforming sign in a way that can exceed customary maintenance or repair on a nonconforming sign, the permittee shall submit a completed modification request for an addendum to the sign permit on a form to be provided by the department, or through the electronic permitting system, together with an addendum fee of one hundred dollars ($100). If a sign is damaged or destroyed, the modification request must contain at least the following:

(A) An explanation of the extent of the damage to the sign and the scope of repairs needed.

(B) Whether the sign was damaged by:

(i) normal wear and tear;

(ii) weather; or

(iii) other natural causes; or

whether the sign was damaged or destroyed by an act described in subdivision (7)(A) through (7)(C).

(C) Clear color onsite photographs of the sign and all salvageable parts of the sign.

(D) A specific description of the work to be undertaken on the nonconforming sign.

After receiving the modification request, the department will promptly consider the modification request and determine, under the standards in this section, whether the requested activity should be permitted or prohibited, and within sixty (60) days give a written notice of its decision to the permittee. If the permittee or their representative performs activities not specifically listed in subdivision (2) on a nonconforming sign without submitting a modification request under this subdivision and receiving an authorization for the addendum from the department, or if the permittee or their representative performs that activity after the department issued its decision that the activity was prohibited, the performance of that activity automatically and permanently transforms the nonconforming sign into an illegal sign subject to revocation of its permit and removal under subdivision (1).

(6) A modification approved by the addendum under this section must be completed within three hundred sixty-five (365) days after the date of issuance of the addendum, or the department's approval under the addendum expires without further action needed by the department. An extension of time may not be granted by the department.

(7) A conditional permit for a nonconforming sign may be revoked by the department if the sign is destroyed, abandoned, obsolete, or discontinued, if the sign may be reerected or otherwise fixed under department approval, and the sign was destroyed by:

(A) vandalism;

(B) another criminal act; or

(C) a tortious act.

(8) Proof of an act described in subdivision (7)(A) through (7)(C) can be shown by timely reports or complaints to the appropriate county sheriff or police department. An act, for purposes of this rule, must:

(A) not involve the carelessness or negligence of the permittee, property owner, or business advertised on the sign (sign parties), or an owner, an officer, an employee, an agent, a representative, or an independent contractor of any of the sign parties; and

(B) involve the damage or destruction by at least one (1) person not connected, directly or indirectly, to any of the sign parties.

(9) The permittee has the burden of proof that:

(A) the nonconforming sign was damaged or destroyed by an act described in subdivision (7)(A) through (7)(C); and

(B) each of the conditions precedent in subdivision (8) are true.

(10) If a nonconforming sign was destroyed or damaged to the extent that the sign is illegal and subject to removal, the permittee has the obligation to perform any repair or other activity on the sign that will preserve the safety of persons otherwise subject to bodily injury or damage to their property from the remnants of the sign before the sign's removal. The repair or other activity will not change the illegal status of the nonconforming sign.

(Indiana Department of Transportation; 105 IAC 7-4-13.5; filed October 20, 2025, 11:35 a.m.: 20251119-IR-105250235FRA)