(A) Signs forfeited. Any sign installed or placed on or over public property or right-of-way after adoption of this chapter, except in conformance with these requirements, shall be forfeited to the public and subject to confiscation. In addition to other remedies hereunder, the city shall have the right to recover from the owner or person placing such a sign the full cost of removal and disposal of the sign.
(B) Violations.
(1) Any of the following shall be a violation of this chapter and shall be subject to the enforcement remedies and penalties provided by this chapter and by state law:
(a) To install, create, erect, or maintain any sign in a way that is inconsistent with any plan or permit governing such sign or the lot on which the sign is located.
(b) To install, create, erect or maintain any sign requiring a permit without such a permit.
(c) To fail to remove any sign that is installed, created, erected, or maintained in violation of this chapter, or for which the sign permit has lapsed.
(2) Each day of a continued violation shall be considered a separate violation when applying the penalty portions of this chapter.
(C) Enforcement.
(1) The Sign Administrator shall have the authority to issue citations for violations of this chapter but shall not have powers of peace officers to make arrests or carry deadly weapons. A person receiving a citation shall appear within a designated time pursuant to the citation.
(2) Any violation or attempted violation of this chapter or of any condition or requirement adopted pursuant hereto may be restrained, corrected, or abated, as the case may be, by injunction or other appropriate proceedings pursuant to state law. The remedies of the city shall include, but are not limited to the following:
(a) Issuing a stop-work order for any and all work on any signs on the same lot;
(b) Seeking an injunction or other order of restraint or abatement that requires the removal of the sign(s) or the correction of the non-conformity; and
(c) In the case of a sign that poses an immediate danger to the public health or safety, take such measures as are available to the city under the applicable building codes or other ordinances.
(3) All the remedies provided herein shall be cumulative. To the extent that state law may limit the availability of a particular remedy set forth herein for a certain violation or a part hereof, the remedy shall remain available for other violations or other parts of the same violation.
(D) Penalties.
(1) Violation of the provisions of this chapter or failure to comply with any of its requirements shall constitute a misdemeanor. Any person who violates this chapter or fails to comply with any of its requirements shall upon conviction thereof be fined not less than $50 nor more than $500. Violators of this chapter may be issued a citation by the officer in charge of enforcement.
(2) The owner and also, if applicable, the tenant of any building, structure, premises or part thereof, who commits, participates in, or maintains the violation may be found guilty of a separate offense and suffer the penalties herein provided.
(3) Nothing herein contained shall prevent the city from taking such other lawful action as is necessary to prevent or remedy any violation.
(Ord. B2008-13, passed 8-12-08; Am. Ord. B2015-34, passed 12-8-15; Am. Ord. B-2018-03, passed 2-13-18; Am. Ord. B2018-16, passed 8-28-18)