(A) General requirements. The following requirements apply to all signs allowed in the city:
(1) Any permanent sign, except for a government sign, that is erected or maintained on city property (public right-of-way, city hall, police department, public works properties, and all city parks) requires city approval. A temporary sign may be erected and maintained within the public right-of-way, so long as it complies with the requirements for temporary signs in this chapter.
(2) Building and specialty code compliance. All signs, whether regulated by this chapter or not,
shall meet all applicable construction and operation standards of the International Building Code adopted by the city. Where these codes conflict with the requirements of this chapter, the more stringent or restrictive shall control.
(3) No sign shall be insecurely erected, or constructed so as to constitute a safety hazard, fire hazard or a nuisance.
(4) Sign obstructing view passage or safety. No sign shall:
(a) Be situated so that it physically obstructs any door, window or building exit;
(b) Be located so as to obstruct or interfere with intersection sight distance for vehicles exiting a driveway or street;
(c) Obstruct or interfere in any way with the public’s ability to clearly view government signs;
(d) By reason of their size, location, movement, content or coloring, may be confused with a government;
(e) Interfere in any way with traffic, visibility or passage within the public right-of-way, including vehicle travel lanes, sidewalks and bike lanes;
(f) Obstruct free ingress to, or egress from, any door, window, fire escape, alley, driveway, fire lane, access along a sidewall to transit stop areas, designated disabled parking spaces, disabled access ramps or building exits;
(g) Reduces passage on a sidewalk to less than three feet or interferes with the opening of lawfully parked cars.
(5) Removal. All prohibited signs and signs that do not have a valid sign permit when one is required under this chapter are unlawful, a violation of this chapter and shall be removed. Failure to do so shall subject the sign, the sign owner and property owner to civil enforcement pursuant to BCO Chapter 37 (Civil Enforcement).
(6) Lighting. Signs, excluding temporary signs and signs in residential zones, may be lit, either from within the sign structure or by external lights shining on the sign face. Lights, when allowed, shall be aimed downward and shall not shine directly onto an adjacent property, buildings or the public right-of-way or to cast glare into the eyes of pedestrians or motorists in the public rights-of-way. Sign lights shall not substitute for security or safety lighting that may otherwise be required.
(7) Prohibited types of lights. Flashing, strobes and rotating lights are prohibited in all situations. No sign shall be erected or maintained which, by use of the lights or illumination, creates an unduly distracting and hazardous condition to a motorist, pedestrian or the general public.
(8) Property owner consent. No sign shall be erected on property or a structure (e.g., a building or utility pole) owned by someone other than the person responsible for the sign without the express written consent of the property’s owner. If the City cannot verify owner consent, the sign will be deemed unlawful and subject to removal.
(B) Any sign that is structurally altered, relocated or replaced shall be brought into compliance with all applicable substantive requirements of this chapter, including the requirement to obtain a permit. A change to the text or message is not a modification under this section. Any modification to a sign for which a permit has been issued shall be processed as an administrative review in the same manner as for a new sign.
(C) Variances. After receiving a written request from the sign owner, the city may grant a variance to one or more numeric or dimensional requirements of this chapter, except that none of the prohibited signs in BCO § 39.02(B) (Prohibited Signs) is allowed through a variance procedure.
(1) Variance criteria. A variance shall be approved if all of the following criteria are met:
(a) Exceptional, extraordinary or unusual circumstances that are not self-imposed that do not apply to other properties in the same area or zone are present. Such circumstances may be the result of an unusual location or orientation of the applicant’s building, topography, vegetation or other circumstance over which the applicant has no control.
(b) The variance is necessary for the preservation of a right of the applicant that is substantially the same as rights possessed by the owners of other property in the area or zone.
(c) The granting of a variance will not be materially detrimental to, or conflict with, the purposes of this chapter, or be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the area or vicinity, or the public way, in which the property is located.
(d) The variance requested is the minimum exception to the established requirements that is necessary to alleviate the claimed grounds for variance.
(e) The requested variance does not exceed of the dimensional standard at issue by more than 40%.
(2) Conditions for granting a variance. The city may impose any condition of approval to a sign permit or variance that is reasonably needed to ensure that the sign complies with all applicable requirements. Such conditions may include limitations on the sign design, area, height, location, or a requirement for compliance with the downtown design guidelines.
(3) Variance fee. The applicant shall pay a fee in accordance with the fee schedule established and amended from time to time by the city council and on file with the city clerk.
(4) Procedure. Variance requests shall be processed as administrative decisions in connection with the underlying sign permit application, heard and decided in conjunction with the underlying sign permit application.
(a) Notice of application. Within 14 calendar days after the date an application for a sign permit variance is received, the Manager shall invite the public to comment on the variance request. The Manager shall:
1. Mail a written notice of the application to property owners within 300 feet of the subject sign site; and
2. Post a notice of the variance request on the subject property which is visible legible to the public.
(b) Comment period. The notice shall provide for a 14-day public comment period from the date of mailing the notice.
(c) Comments. The Manager shall mail to the applicant a copy of comments timely received in response to the notice together with a statement that the applicant may respond to the comments within 14 calendar days from the date the comments are mailed.
(d) Decision.
1. Within 14 calendar days after the date a variance request is received the Manager shall issue a decision that approves, approves with conditions, or denies the variance; provided, that an applicant may agree to extend that time and may provide additional information within that time at the request of the city.
2. The decision shall include a brief summary of the relevant facts and applicable standards for the variance request and a summary of how the request complies with those standards based on the facts and evidence, including any conditions of approval.
(5) Notice of decision. Within seven calendar days after issuing a sign permit decision, the Manager shall mail notice of the decision to the parties of interest including, but not limited to, the applicant and anyone who commented on the application.
(6) Appeal. Any appeal of a sign variance decision shall be perfected in accordance with the procedures for appealing a sign permit and will be heard by the City Council consistent with established City procedures for public hearings.
(Ord. 2018-04-01, passed 5-8-2018)