Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §12004-I, sub-§86, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 786, §5, is repealed.

Sec. 2. 23 MRSA c. 21, as amended, is repealed.

Sec. 3. 23 MRSA c. 22 is enacted to read:

CHAPTER 22

SIGNS AND INFORMATION

§1926.__Signs

A person may not place a sign for private or commercial purposes on public property in the State or on private property in violation of the provisions of chapter 15.__A municipality may regulate the placement of a sign for private or commercial purposes placed upon private property.__The municipality may collect a fee of $1 per square foot of the sign per month upon application to the clerk of the municipality.__This section does not supersede a local ordinance regulating signs pursuant to Title 30-A.

§1927. Official tourist information centers

To the extent funds are available or contracts can be entered into, the Commissioner of Transportation shall establish official tourist information centers near the principal entrance points into the State, as determined by the Commissioner of Transportation, with the advice and recommendation of the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, and at such other locations as the Commissioner of Transportation determines appropriate in order to provide information about public accommodations, facilities, commercial services and other businesses for the traveling public, and points of scenic, historic, cultural, recreational, educational and religious interest.

SUMMARY

This bill repeals the current law regarding billboards and replaces it with provisions forbidding from public property any sign for private or commercial for purposes and allows municipalities to regulate private or commercial signs and collect a fee of $1 per square foot per month for the sign.