It is the intent and purpose of these sign regulations to qualify, supplement or define the allowable uses of the several types of signs allowed in the district regulations appearing elsewhere in this Regulation.
Any sign shall, by definition, be a structure. No land or building or structure shall be used for sign purposes except within the stipulated districts listed in Sign Use Regulations specified herein. All signs legally existing at the time of passage of these regulations may remain in use under the conditions of legal non-conformance. Signs in legal non-conformance shall not be enlarged, moved, lighted, or reconstructed, however, the change of the advertising display shall not be restricted except as previously stated. After the effective date of this Regulation, no sign shall be erected, enlarged, constructed or otherwise installed without first obtaining a sign permit, and a sign permit shall be legally issued only when in compliance with this sign regulation. All signs shall be constructed in compliance with the building codes and shall be constructed in such a manner and of such material that they shall be safe and substantial. Scale drawings of the sign and manner of supports shall be furnished to the Zoning Administrator in application for a sign permit for all signs.
1. Functional Types:
a. Advertising Signs: A sign which directs the attention of the public to any goods, merchandise, property, business, service, entertainment or amusement conducted or produced which is bought or sold, furnished, offered or dealt in elsewhere than on the premises where such sign is located or to which it is affixed.
b. Bulletin Board Sign: A sign that indicates the name of an institution or organization on whose premises it is located and which contains the name of the institution or organization, the name or names of persons connected with it, and announcement of persons, events or activities occurring at the institution. Such signs may also present a greeting or similar message.
c. Business Sign: A sign which directs attention to a business or profession conducted, or to products, services or entertainment sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located, or to which it affixed.
d. Construction Sign: A temporary sign indicating the names of the architects, engineers, landscape architects, contractors and similar artisans involved in the design and construction of a structure, complex or project only during the construction period and only on the premises on which the construction is taking place.
e. Identification Sign: A sign giving the name and address of a building, business, development or establishment. Such signs may be wholly or partly devoted to a readily recognized symbol.
f. Name Plate Sign: A sign giving the name and/or address of the owner or occupant of a building or premises on which it is located, and where applicable, a professional status.
g. Real Estate Sign: A sign pertaining to the sale or lease of a lot or tract of land on which the sign is located, or to the sale or lease of one or more structures, or a portion thereof on which the sign is located.
2. Structural Types:
a. Awning. Canopy or Marquee Sign: A sign that is mounted or painted on, or attached, to an awning, canopy or marquee. No such signs shall project above, below or beyond the awning, canopy or marquee.
b. Ground Sign: Any sign placed upon, or supported by, the ground independently of the principal building or structure on the property, where the bottom edge of the sign is under 6 feet.
c. Pole Sign: Any sign placed upon, or supported by, the grounded independently of the principal building or structure on the property where the bottom edge of the sign is 6 feet or more above the ground level.
d. Projecting Sign: A sign that is wholly or partly dependent upon a building for support and which projects more than 12 inches from such building.
e. Wall Sign: A sign fastened to or painted on a wall of a building or structure in such a manner that the wall becomes merely the supporting structure or forms the background surface, and which does not project more than 12 inches from such building.
f. Roof Sign: A sign totally supported on the roof of a structure. Roof signs shall not project more than 12 inches beyond the face of the building.
1. Gross Area of Sign: The entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of the sign, exclusive of the base on which it is mounted or from which it is suspended. If more than one side of a sign is utilized as a sign, then it shall also be computed and shall be counted as a portion of the gross area. On lots where more than one sign is located, the total gross area of all the signs shall not exceed the maximum gross area permitted by this regulation.
For computing the gross area of any wall sign which consists of letters mounted or painted on a wall, the area shall be deemed to be the area of the smallest rectangular figure which can encompass all of the letters.
2. Sign Height: Sign height shall be measured from the ground elevation at the base of the sign to the highest element of the sign.
3. Illuminated Signs: A sign designed to give forth artificial light or designed to reflect light derived from any source.
a. Illuminated signs shall be designed as to reflect or direct light away from any residential dwelling district and any illuminated sign located on a lot adjacent to, in front of or across the street from any residential district, which sign is visible from such residential district, shall not be illuminated between the hours of 11 P.M. and 7 A.M.
b. Lighted signs in direct vision of a traffic signal shall not be in read, amber or green illumination.
4. Flashing or Moving Signs: Any illuminated sign on which the artificial light is not constant in intensity and color at all times. For the purpose of this regulation, any revolving, rotating, moving, animated, signs with moving, lights or signs which create the illusion of movement shall be considered as a flashing sign.
a. Flashing signs shall not be permitted which are in any way similar to traffic signals or emergency vehicle lights.
b. A sign whereon the current time and/or temperature is indicated intermittent lighting shall not be deemed as a flashing sign if the lighting changes are limited to the numerals indicating the time and/or temperature and are not more frequent than every 15 seconds.
5. Accessway or Window: No sign shall block any required accessway or window.
6. Signs on Trees or Utility Poles: No sign shall be attached to a tree or utility pole whether on public or private property.
7. Metal Signs: Signs constructed of metal and illuminated by any means requiring internal wiring or electrically wired accessory fixtures attached to a metal sign shall maintain a free clearance to grade of 9 feet. Accessory lighting fixtures attached to a non-metal frame sign shall also maintain a clearance of 9 feet to grade.
No metal ground sign shall be located within 8 feet vertically and 4 feet horizontally of electric wires or conductors in free air carrying more than 48 volts, whether or not such wires or conductors are insulated or otherwise protected.
8. Traffic Safety:
a. No sign shall be maintained at any location whereby reason of its position, size, shape or color, it may obstruct, impair, obscure, interfere with the view of, or be confused with any traffic or railroad control sign, signal or device, or where it may interfere with, mislead, or confuse traffic.
b. Any sign located within 3 feet of a driveway or within a parking area shall have its lowest elevation at least 10 feet above the curb level; however, in no event shall any sign be placed so as to project over any public right-of-way.
Under no circumstances shall any sign be placed in the site triangle as defined by this regulation.
9. Setbacks: No advertising sign shall project beyond the front, side or rear building setback lines for the district set forth in this zoning regulation.
10. Lineal Street Frontage: In those districts where gross sign area is allocated based on lineal street frontage and the tract or parcel is adjacent to more than one street, the lineal street frontage shall be computed as follows:
a. For those tracts or parcels located on major streets as designated in the Circulation Plan of the Comprehensive Plan, the lineal street frontage shall be the distance of that property line abutting the major street.
b. For those tracts or parcels not located on a major street, the lineal street frontage shall be one-half the sum of all the street frontages.
1. The following signs shall be exempt from the requirements of this Article:
a. Flags or emblems of a governmental or of a political, civic, philanthropic, educational or religious organization display on private property.
b. Signs of a duly constituted governmental body, including traffic or similar regulatory signs, legal notices, warnings at railroad crossing and other instructional or regulatory signs having to do with health, hazards, parking, swimming, dumping, etc.
c. Memorial signs and tablets displayed on private property.
d. Small signs, not exceeding 3 square feet in area, displayed on private property for the convenience of the public, including signs to identify entrance and exit drives, parking areas, one-way drives, rest rooms, freight entrances, and other similar signs.
e. Scoreboards in athletic stadiums.
2. The following signs are exempt from the sign permit section of this Article, but shall comply with all of the other regulations imposed by this Article:
a. Name plate signs not exceeding 2 square feet in gross area accessory to a single-family ·or two-family dwelling.
b. Bulletin board signs not exceeding 15 square feet in gross area accessory to a church, school or public or non-profit institution.
1. “A-L” Agricultural District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Bulletin board signs.
(2) Business sings, pertaining only to the sale of agricultural products produced on the premises and home occupations.
(3) Construction signs.
(4) Identification signs.
(5) Name plate signs.
(6) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Ground signs.
(2) Wall signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted: One sign per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Area:
(1) Bulletin board and identification signs: 24 square feet.
(2) Business signs - home occupations: 2 square feet; Agricultural: 20 square feet.
(3) Construction signs: 20 square feet.
(4) Name plate signs: 2 square feet.
(5) Real estate signs: 12 square feet.
e. Maximum Height: 15 feet.
f. Required Setbacks: None.
g. Illumination: Bulletin board and identification signs that do not exceed 12 square feet on one face for churches, hospitals, police stations, fire stations and other similar public facilities.
2. “R-S” Residential Suburban District. “R-1”, “R-2” and “R-3” Single- Family Dwelling Districts, “R-4” Two-Family Dwelling District. “R-5” Multiple-Family Dwelling District and “R-P” Community Unit Plan District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Business signs pertaining to a home occupation and subject to the sign requirements of a home occupation section of this regulation.
(2) Bulletin board sign.
(3) Construction signs.
(4) Identification signs.
(5) Name plate signs.
(6) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(a) Ground signs.
(b) Wall signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted: One sign per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Area:
(1) Business signs - Home occupations: 2 square feet.
(2) Bulletin board and identification signs: 24 square feet.
(3) Construction signs: 20 square feet.
(4) Name plate signs: 2 square feet.
(5) Real estate signs: 6 square feet, providing that one sign not more than 100 square feet in area announcing the sale of lots and/or houses in a subdivision may be located on said development. Said sign shall be removed at the end of 3 years or when 75% of the lots have been sold, whichever occurs sooner.
e. Maximum Height: 15 feet.
f. Required Setback: No sign shall be placed closer to the front property line than 1/2 the distance of the front yard.
g. Illumination: Bulletin boards and identification signs may be indirectly illuminated with incandescent or fluorescent lighting.
3. “M-P” Mobile Home Park District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Construction sign.
(2) Identification signs.
(3) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Ground signs.
(2) Wall signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted: One per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Area: 20 square feet on one face or not more than 40 square feet total.
e. Maximum Height: 20 feet.
f. Required Setback: No sign shall be placed closer to the front property line than 1/2 the distance of the front yard.
g. Illumination: Signs may illuminated indirectly with incandescent or fluorescent lighting.
4. “C-O” Office and Institution District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Bulletin board signs.
(2) Business signs.
(3) Construction signs.
(4) Identification signs.
(5) Name plate signs.
(6) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee signs.
(2) Ground signs.
(3) Pole signs.
(4) Wall signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted:
(1) Ground and pole signs: One sign per zoning lot.
(2) Wall signs: No limitations.
(3) Awning, canopy or marquee signs: One per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Area: Not more than 30 square feet on one facade of any sign or more than a total aggregate of 75 square feet for one zoning lot.
e. Maximum Height: 20 feet.
f. Required Setback: 10 feet.
g, Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted provided they are not in conflict with any other section of this regulation.
2. “C-P” Planned Neighborhood Shopping District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Bulletin board signs.
(2) Business signs.
(3) Construction signs.
(4) Identification signs.
(5) Name plate signs.
(6) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee signs.
(2) Ground signs.
(3) Pole signs.
(4) Wall signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee signs: No limitation.
(2) Ground and pole signs: One per zoning lot.
(3) Wall signs: No limitations.
d. Maximum Gross Area: One square foot of sign area for each one foot of lineal street frontage.
e. Maximum Height: 30 feet, provided no sign shall protrude above the roof or eave line of the principal structure.
f. Required Setback: 10 feet.
g. Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted.
6. “C-S” Highway Service District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Advertising signs.
(2) Bulletin board sign.
(3) Business signs.
(4) Construction signs.
(5) Identification signs.
(6) Name plate signs.
(7) Real estate signs.
(4) Projecting signs.
(5) Wall signs.
(6) Roof signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy marquee or wall signs: No limitations.
(2) Ground and pole signs: 2 per zoning lot.
(3) Projecting signs: One per zoning lot.
(4) Roof signs: One per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Surface Area: 2 square feet for each lineal foot of street frontage, provided no single sign shall exceed a gross surface area of 400 square feet.
e. Maximum Height: 30 feet.
f. Required Setback: None, except that advertising signs and any other sign that exceeds 200 square feet in gross surface area shall maintain the same setback that is required for principal structures.
g. Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted.
9. “C-3” Central Business District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Bulletin board signs.
(2) Business signs.
(3) Construction signs.
(4) Identification signs.
(5) Name plate signs.
(6) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee signs.
(2) Ground signs.
(3) Pole signs.
(4) Projecting signs.
(5) Wall signs.
(6) Roof signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted: No limitations.
d. Maximum Gross Surface Area: No limitations.
e. Maximum Height: No signs shall project more than 30 feet above the highest point of the roof of the structure on which it is located.
f. Required Setback: None.
g. Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted.
10. “I-P” Industrial Park District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Bulletin board signs.
(2) Business signs.
(3) Construction signs.
(4) Identification signs.
(5) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee signs.
(2) Ground signs.
(3) Pole signs.
(4) Wall signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted: Two per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Surface Area: One square foot for each one foot of lineal street frontage, provided no single sign shall exceed a gross surface area of 250 square feet.
e. Maximum Height: 30 feet.
f. Required Setback: 10 feet.
g. Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted.
11. “I-1” Light Industrial and “I-2” Heavy Industrial Districts:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Advertising signs.
(2) Bulletin board signs.
(3) Business signs.
(4) Construction signs.
(5) Identification signs.
(6) Name plate signs.
(7) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Awning, canopy or marquee signs.
(2) Ground signs.
(3) Pole signs.
(4) Projecting signs.
(5) Wall signs.
(6) Roof signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted: 2 per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Surface Area: 2 square feet per lineal foot of street frontage, provided no single sign exceeds a gross surface area of 400 square feet.
e. Maximum Height:
(1) Roof and wall signs: 30 feet above the highest point of the structure on which the sign is located.
(2) All other signs: 30 feet.
f. Required Setback: None, except that advertising signs shall maintain the same setback that is required for principal structures.
g. Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted.
12. “F-P” Flood Plain District:
a. Functional Types Permitted:
(1) Business signs.
(2) Construction signs.
(3) Real estate signs.
b. Structural Types Permitted:
(1) Ground signs.
(2) Walls signs.
c. Number of Signs Permitted:
(1) Ground sign: One per zoning lot.
(2) Wall sign: One per zoning lot.
d. Maximum Gross Surface Area:
(1) Business signs: Not more than 30 square feet on one facade of any sign or more than a total aggregate of 75 square feet for one zoning lot.
(2) Construction signs: 20 square feet.
(3) Real estate signs: 20 square feet.
e. Maximum Height: 30 feet.
f. Required Setback: 15 feet.
g. Illumination: Illuminated signs shall be permitted.