The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
ABANDONED SIGN: A sign which no longer identifies or advertises a bona fide business, lessor, service, owner, product or activity, or for which no legal owner can be found.
ACCESSORY SIGN: A sign that is incidental to the effective operation of the enterprise to which it pertains, and is not intended to serve as the primary identification of the premises and does not attract the attention of passersby for the purpose of advertising a product or service available to therein.
ADVERTISING SIGN: A sign which identifies or promotes any product, commodity, or service.
AREA OF SIGN FACE: The entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the total sign message or display area of a sign, excluding supports and excluding border and trim, whose total square footage does not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the sign face area; the area of stacked and side by side signs shall be computed as the total of sign panels making up such a sign; for multiple faced signs (back to back, triangular, columnar, V-type, etc.) only one sign face shall be counted in computing the actual sign area.
AUTHORIZED AGENT: An architect, builder, developer, engineer, sign contractor or other person empowered to act on behalf of other persons.
BACK TO BACK SIGN: A structure with two (2) parallel and directly opposite signs with their faces oriented in opposite directions and spaced not more than ten feet (10') apart.
BANNER SIGN: Any temporary sign intended to be hung either with or without frames, characters, letters, illustrations or ornamentations applied to paper, plastic, or fabric of any kind. National flags, flags of political subdivisions, and symbolic flags of any institution shall not be considered banners for the purpose of this chapter.
BENCH SIGN: A sign located on any part of the surface of a bench or seat placed on or adjacent to a public right of way.
BILLBOARD SIGN: Any flat surface erected on a framework or on any structure, or attached to posts and used for, or designed to be used for, the display of bills, posters, or other advertising material, for the purpose of advertising a business, organization, event, person, place, or thing not located on the same premises as such advertising material, with one or two (2) parallel and directly opposite signs with their faces oriented in opposite directions and spaced not more than ten feet (10') apart.
BOARD: The Alamo city commission.
BUILDING FRONTAGE: The linear length of a building facing a public way or which contains a public entrance.
BUILDING OFFICIAL: An employee of the city of Alamo, which includes the building inspector, the code enforcement officer, or any other person empowered to act on behalf of the city of Alamo.
CANOPY SIGN: A sign that is hung, affixed, or suspended beneath an awning or canopy and is intended to identify a business, product or service primarily for the benefit of pedestrian traffic. A "canopy" is defined as being a structure, not including a carport, either attached to or detached from any existing structure, having no side walls, consisting of a roof with support columns or posts and being constructed of noncombustible materials to be used solely for the purpose of providing shade and/or for the purpose of providing protection for gasoline and fuel dispensing equipment. For the sake of this chapter, this definition shall also include canopies used for the purpose of shade and/or protection over a public right of way, and further defined as a structure projecting from, extending beyond, and supported by a building.
CHANGEABLE ELECTRONIC VARIABLE MESSAGE SIGN (CEVMS) OR CHANGEABLE COPY SIGN: An electric sign which permits light to be turned on or off intermittently or which is operated in a way whereby light is turned on or off intermittently, including any sign as in use, including LED (light emitting diode) or digital sign, and which varies in intensity or color. A CEVMS sign does not include a sign located within the right of way that functions as a traffic control device and that is described and identified in the "Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices" (MUTCD) approved by the federal highway administrator as the national standard.
CONSTRUCTION SIGN: Any temporary nonilluminated sign giving the name of architects, engineers, builders, contractors, and/or lending institutions responsible for construction on the site where the sign is placed, together with other information included thereon.
DIRECTIONAL/INFORMATION SIGN: An on premises sign giving directions, instructions or facility information and which may contain the name or logo of an establishment, not to exceed twenty percent (20%) of the sign face, but no advertising copy, e.g., parking or exit and entrance signs. A sign containing the word "parking" at any parking lot where any person is charged any fee or other monetary consideration for parking shall be considered an advertising sign, not a directional/informational sign.
DIRECTORY SIGN: A sign on which the names and location of occupants or the use of a building is given. This shall include office buildings, church directories, and shopping malls.
DISTRICT: A part, zone, or geographic area within the city within which certain zoning or development regulations apply.
ELECTRICAL SIGN: Any sign, display, or device containing electrical wiring or using electrical energy, but does not include signs illuminated by an exterior light source.
EXPRESSWAY CORRIDORS: The commercially or industrially zoned areas along or within six hundred feet (600') north and south of U.S. Expressway 83 from Cesar Chavez Road to Whalen Road.
EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION: The area extending beyond the corporate limits of the city which pertain to the city based on Texas local government code as it now stands and as it may change from time to time.
GROUND AND/OR TENANT SIGN: Any sign which is supported by structures or supports in or upon the ground and independent of support from any building, for the purpose of directing the attention of the general public to a lawful use of the premises on which it is located.
GUTTER FLOW LINE: In lieu of paved curb and gutter, the invisible lines to either side of the paved or used right of way of a road at which water will naturally flow parallel to such road.
HOME OCCUPATION: A commercial use customarily carried on in the home by members of the occupants and as authorized by a conditional use permit as prescribed in the zoning ordinance.
IDENTIFICATION SIGN: A sign for the purpose of identifying an apartment building, mobile home park, residential, commercial or industrial subdivision that contains only the name of the development and/or address.
ILLUMINATED SIGN: Any sign illuminated in any manner by an artificial light source.
INSTITUTIONAL SIGN: A sign which identifies a school, church, hospital or similar publicly owned building.
MAINTENANCE: The cleaning, painting, repair or replacement of defective parts of a sign in a manner that does not alter the basic copy, design or structure of the sign.
MARQUEE SIGN: Any sign attached to and made a part of a marquee. A "marquee" is defined as a permanent rooflike structure projecting beyond a building wall at an entrance to a building or extending along and projecting beyond the building's wall and generally designed and constructed to provide protection against the weather.
NONCONFORMING SIGN: Any sign which does not conform to the regulations of this chapter.
OFF PREMISES SIGN: A sign structure advertising an establishment, merchandise, service, information or entertainment which is not sold, produced, manufactured or furnished at the premises on which such sign is located, e.g., billboards, outdoor advertising, off site signs, or bench signs.
ON PREMISES SIGN: A sign which pertains to the legal use of the premises on which it is located, including signs and sign devices indicating the business transacted, services rendered, or goods sold or produced on the premises, name of the business, and name of the person occupying the premises.
OWNER: A person recorded as such on the official Hidalgo County tax records. For the purposes of this section, the owner of property on which a sign is located is presumed to be the owner of the sign, unless facts to the contrary are officially recorded or otherwise brought to the attention of the building official.
PERMANENT SIGN: A sign that is securely attached to a building or premises according to the prevailing building codes.
POLITICAL SIGN: Any temporary sign whose sole purpose is the transmittal of information concerning an upcoming political issue or campaign, a public issue of potential concern to the community as a whole, and/or a political candidate's sign, except when each sign is affixed to a permanent sign structure.
PORTABLE SIGN: A movable sign that is not attached to a permanent support or building, designed to be temporary and mobile. Portable signs that have been installed in cement foundation and/or a permanent pole, does not make the portable sign permanent. This definition includes signs attached to trailers, but does not include signs permanently placed on the sides of motor vehicles. For purposes of this definition, portable signs include: signs having generally fluorescent letters against typically black backgrounds; lighted arrow signs, inflatable signs and similar types of signs that have the same effect such as with a white background. Such signs are only allowed in grand openings and are to be removed within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of business license issuance; all such type of portable signs are to be removed within six (6) months from the date of the adoption of this chapter.
PREMISES: Any lot, tract or parcel of land, platted or unplatted, whether or not held under common ownership, including all buildings thereon and appurtenances thereto.
PREVAILING BUILDING CODE: That code adopted by the city commission and being a set of rules and regulations designed to protect the public's life, health and welfare in the built environment. It may also be the international building code and related appendices that may from time to time be adopted by the city.
PROJECTING SIGN: Any sign other than a wall sign affixed to any building or wall, whose leading edge extends beyond such building or wall.
REAL ESTATE SIGN: Any temporary sign which is used to offer for sale, lease, or rent the property upon which the sign is placed. No permit is required if the sign has an area of forty (40) square feet or less.
RIGHT OF WAY: Any property interests dedicated for public use and owned or controlled by the city of Alamo. Right of way includes the property behind the street which is part of the dedicated street right of way or may be a dedicated utility easement. Right of way includes fee ownership of the city of Alamo.
ROOF SIGN: Any sign erected or constructed wholly upon and over the roof of any building and supported solely on the roof structure.
SECONDARY ARTERIAL CORRIDOR: Shall be all of U.S. Business Highway 83.
SEXUALLY ORIENTED SIGN: Any sign which attracts attention to sexual activities, promotes sex, has or insinuates a sexual meaning or body part or exposes sexually explicit parts of the body.
SIGN: Any device, structure, fixture, or placard using graphics, symbols and/or written copy designed specifically for the purpose of informing, advertising or identifying any establishment, product, goods or services.
SIGN CLEARANCE: The smallest vertical distance between the grade of the adjacent street or street curb and the lowest point of any sign, including framework and embellishments, extending over the grade.
SIGN HEIGHT: The vertical distance measured from the highest point of the sign to the grade of the adjacent street or the surface grade beneath the sign, whichever is less.
SNIPE SIGN: Any sign of any material whatsoever that is attached in any way to a utility pole, tree, or any object located or situated on public or private property.
STREET BANNER SIGN: Any temporary banner sign which is stretched across and hung over a public right of way.
STREET FRONTAGE: The length of the property line along the street right of way. The total length of the property line along a particular street would be considered one street frontage. A lot abutting upon two (2) or more public streets at their intersection will be considered to have two (2) or more frontages, but the same linear frontage may not be used to determine the permitted area of more than one sign.
TEMPORARY SIGN: Any sign not on a permanent foundation, the life of which does not extend beyond that specified for certain uses in this chapter, such as construction, real estate, political, portable and trailer signs.
V-TYPE SIGN: A structure composed of two (2) signs in the shape of the letter "V" when viewed from above, and with their faces oriented in opposite directions.
WALL SIGN: Any sign painted on or attached to and is parallel to the face of, or erected and confined within the limits of, the outside wall of any building and supported by such wall or building and which displays only one advertising surface.
WINDOW SIGN: Any sign affixed, attached or displayed through the interior or exterior of a window, not to exceed in size the surface of the window area in order to advertise a product, message, offer, etc. (Ord. 13-08-16, 8-2-2016)