§445-112 Where and when permitted. No person shall erect, maintain, or use a billboard or display any outdoor advertising device, except as provided in this section:
(1) The display of official notices and signs, posted by order of any court or public office, or posted by any public officer in the performance of a public duty, or posted by any person required to do so by any law or rule having the force of law;
(2) Any outdoor advertising device announcing a meeting or series of meetings is not prohibited by this section if displayed on the premises where the meeting or series of meetings will be or is being held. Meeting, as used in this section, includes all meetings regardless of whether open to the public or conducted for profit and includes but is not limited to sports events, conventions, fairs, rallies, plays, lectures, concerts, motion pictures, dances, and religious services;
(3) Any outdoor advertising device indicating that the building or premises on which it is displayed is the residence, office, or place of business, commercial or otherwise, of any individual, partnership, joint venture, association, club, or corporation, and stating the nature of the business;
(4) Any outdoor advertising device that advertises property or services that may be bought, rented, sold, or otherwise traded in on the premises or in the building on which the outdoor advertising device is displayed;
(5) The offering for sale of merchandise bearing incidental advertising, including books, magazines, and newspapers, in any store, newsstand, vending machine, rack, or other place where such merchandise is regularly sold;
(6) Any outdoor advertising device offering any land, building, or part of a building for sale or rent, if displayed on the property so offered or on the building so offered;
(7) Any outdoor advertising device carried by persons or placed upon vehicles used for the transportation of persons or goods, except as provided under section 445-112.5, relating to vehicular advertising devices;
(8) Any outdoor advertising device warning the public of dangerous conditions that they may encounter in nearby sections of streets, roads, paths, public places, power lines, gas and water mains, or other public utilities;
(9) Signs serving no commercial purpose that indicate places of natural beauty, or of historical or cultural interest and that are made according to designs approved by the department of business, economic development, and tourism;
(10) Any outdoor advertising device or billboard erected, placed, or maintained upon a state office building, if erected, placed, or maintained by authority of a state agency, department, or officer for the sole purpose of announcing cultural or educational events within the State, and if the design and location thereof has been approved by the department of business, economic development, and tourism;
(11) Signs urging voters to vote for or against any person or issue, may be erected, maintained, and used, except where contrary to or prohibited by law;
(12) Signs stating that a residence that is offered for sale, lease, or rent is open for inspection at the actual time the sign is displayed and showing the route to the residence; provided that the sign contains no words or designs other than the words "Open House", the address of the residence, the name of the person or agency responsible for the sale, and an arrow or other directional symbol and is removed during such time as the residence is not open for inspection;
(13) The erection, maintenance, and use of billboards if the billboard is used solely for outdoor advertising devices not prohibited by this section;
(14) The continued display and maintenance of outdoor advertising devices actually displayed on July 8, 1965, in accordance with all laws and ordinances immediately theretofore in effect;
(15) The continued maintenance of any billboard actually maintained on July 8, 1965, and the display thereon of the same or new advertising devices, all in accordance with all laws and ordinances in effect immediately prior to July 9, 1965;
(16) Any outdoor advertising device, displayed with the authorization of the University of Hawaii, on any scoreboard of any stadium owned by the university. An outdoor advertising device displayed under this paragraph shall be on the front of the scoreboard and face the interior of the stadium;
(17) Any temporary outdoor advertising device attached to or supported by the structure of any stadium owned by the University of Hawaii, located within and facing the interior of the stadium, and authorized to be displayed by the university. For the purpose of this paragraph, "temporary" means displayed for a short period before the official start of organized athletic competition, during the organized athletic competition, and for a short period after the official end of the organized athletic competition;
(18) Any outdoor advertising device, displayed with the authorization of the stadium authority, on any scoreboard of any stadium operated by the stadium authority. An outdoor advertising device displayed under this paragraph shall be on the front of the scoreboard and face the interior of the stadium; and
(19) Any outdoor advertising device, displayed with the authorization of the city and county of Honolulu, on the scoreboard of the Waipio peninsula soccer stadium. The outdoor advertising device shall be:
(A) Attached to the bottom of the scoreboard;
(B) No longer than the width of the scoreboard; and
(C) No higher than twenty-five per cent of the scoreboard height.
The scoreboard shall be no larger than twenty-eight feet by ten feet. Any outdoor advertising device displayed pursuant to this paragraph shall be on the front of the scoreboard and face the interior of the stadium; provided that the outdoor advertising device shall not be visible from any thoroughfare. [L 1965, c 233, pt of §1; Supp, §155-121; HRS §445-112; am L 1986, c 245, §1; am L 1987, c 336, §7; am L 1990, c 293, §8; am L 1994, c 118, §1; am L 2003, c 194, §4; am L 2006, c 222, §3; am L 2015, c 37, §2]
Attorney General Opinions
Paragraph (11) (prior to 2003 amendment), regulating political signs, was unconstitutional and unenforceable. Att. Gen. Op. 96-4.