Leases and zoning

1. Leases submitted with permit applications must be written leases showing on their face that the applicant is authorized by the landowner to erect a sign on the property. If no written lease exists between the applicant and the landowner, the applicant may substitute a letter from the landowner authorizing erection of a sign on the property and showing the duration of the authority, or the landowner may sign the permit application. A landowner's letter or signature on the sign permit application must be used when no written lease exists between the applicant and the landowner either because none was drafted and executed or because the applicant claims to be a successor to the rights of a prior lessee. 2. In addition to other requirements and limitations provided by state and federal law and rules, signs may be erected and maintained only in areas zoned by local zoning authorities as industrial or commercial, under a comprehensive zoning plan, or in areas which are unzoned but are commercial or industrial in use pursuant to the agreement between the director and the United States secretary of transportation according to 23 U.S.C. 131. Zoned or unzoned areas will be as defined by state and federal law, including administrative rules.