§ 27-74-201 - Policy.
               	 		
27-74-201.    Policy.
    (a)  The  General Assembly finds and declares that the erection and maintenance  of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and devices in areas adjacent to  certain sections of the National System of Interstate and Defense  Highways, and federal-aid primary and other state highways designated by  the commission in the Arkansas state highway system shall be controlled  in accordance with the terms of this chapter and regulations  promulgated pursuant thereto, in order to protect the public interest;  to promote the public health, safety, and welfare; to preserve natural  beauty; and to promote reasonable, orderly, and effective display of  outdoor advertising in the State of Arkansas.
(b)  The  State of Arkansas finds and declares that the removal of certain  directional signs, displays, and devices in certain specified areas  lawfully erected under state law in force at the time of their erection  which do not conform to the requirements of 23 U.S.C.    131(c), which  provide directional information about goods and services in the interest  of the traveling public, and which were in existence on May 6, 1976,  would work a substantial economic hardship in the defined areas.