Upon the receipt of a petition signed by owners of taxable property representing 60 percent or more of the total assessed valuation of all taxable property within an existing highway lighting district, or within a temporary zone requested to be established by the petition in the manner provided in this chapter, the governing body of the district may replace an obsolete lighting system with a new modern county- or utility-owned lighting system where necessary for the proper operation of the district or of the portion thereof lying within the temporary zone.