10-8-5: SIGNAGE DEFINITIONS:
SIGN:
Any emblem, painting, banner, pennant, placard, design, identification, description, illustration or device, illuminated or nonilluminated, to advertise, identify, convey information or direct attention to a product, service, place, activity, person, institution, business, or solicitation, including any permanently installed or situated merchandise. For the purpose of removal, signs also include all sign structures. Signs as defined herein do not include temporary holiday decorations or landscape features that do not display a commercial message.
ABANDONED:
A sign that no longer correctly advertises a bona fide business, lessor, owner, product or activity conducted, or product available on the premises where the sign is displayed or elsewhere for a period of 6 months.
ADDRESS NAMEPLATE:
A sign that identifies the street number and/or street name for identification purposes, as designated by the United States Postal Service.
ART:
See definition “Art/Public Art.”
AWNING:
Any sign attached to or constructed in, on, or under an awning.
BACKLIT/HALO:
A sign that has a source of copy illumination designed to project lighting against the surface behind the copy. Sign, Banner. A sign of lightweight fabric or similar non-ridged material that is mounted with no enclosing framework.
BILLBOARD:
Same as “off-premise sign.”
BUSINESS CENTER:
A sign identifying the entrance to a business center and/or the names of the businesses located within the business center.
CAMPAIGN:
A temporary sign displayed on a lot during an active local, state or federal campaign for public office or ballot issue or referenda, generally intended to promote the ultimate exercise of voting by the general public.
CANOPY:
Any sign attached to or constructed in, on, or under a canopy.
CHANGEABLE COPY (MANUAL):
A sign upon which the message can be readily modified by changing letters and/or symbols by other than electronic means.
CONSTRUCTION:
A temporary sign located on a lot upon which building or construction is actively occurring.
DIRECTIONAL (DRIVEWAY):
A sign located near a driveway entrance from a street or near an internal site driveway or drive aisle.
DOUBLE-FACED:
A sign with copy on two parallel faces that are back to back, facing in opposite directions.
ELECTRONIC MESSAGE (EMS):
A sign capable of displaying words, symbols, figures or images that can be electronically or mechanically changed by remote or automatic means. (See also following terms principally associated with electronic message signs: display time, dissolve, dynamic frame effect, fade, frame, frame effect, scroll, transition, travel).
ENGRAVED:
A sign whose characters are engraved or etched onto the exterior wall of a building or onto a plaque mounted on the exterior wall of a building or onto a plaque mounted on the exterior wall of a building.
EXTERNALLY ILLUMINATED:
A sign illuminated by or exposed to artificial lighting by lights on the sign or directed toward the sign.
FEATHER:
A lightweight, portable sign mounted along one edge on a single, vertical, flexible pole the physical structure of which may resemble a sail, bow, or teardrop.
FLAG:
A generally rectangular or triangular sign or part of a sign made of fabric or other pliant material attached to a flagpole only along one side and which predominately displays distinctive colors, images, shapes or designs rather than legible words, letters, numbers or other linguistic characters.
FLASHING/STROBE:
Any sign that contains an intermittent or flashing light source, or that includes the illusion of intermittent or flashing light by means of animation, or an externally mounted intermittent light source, not including changeable message signs.
FREESTANDING:
A sign that is part of a self-supporting structure, other than a building or portion of a building. Sometimes referred to as a “ground sign.”
GOVERNMENT:
A sign installed by or on behalf of the city or other branch of government,
HOLIDAY DISPLAY:
A displays erected on a seasonal basis in observance of religions, national or state holidays that are not intended to be permanent in nature and that contain no commercial message.
INFLATABLE:
A sign whose shape or structure is provided by inflation or by the affect of forced air.
INTERIOR:
A sign mounted or located in the interior of a building that is legible by a person with 20/20 vision when standing at ground level from outside the lot on which the subject building is located.
INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED:
A sign lighted by or exposed to artificial lighting by lights in the sign.
MARQUEE:
Any sign attached to or constructed in, on, or under a marquee.
MENU BOARD (DRIVE-THROUGH):
A sign located on the site of an allowed drive-through use.
MESSAGE BOARD:
A sign with a fixed or changing display/message composed of a series of lights that may be changed through electronic means.
MONUMENT:
A sign supported primarily by an internal structural framework or integrated into landscaping or solid structural features other than support poles. Monument sign also means ground sign.
OFF-PREMISE:
A sign that advertises goods, products, facilities, events or services not on the premises where the sign is located, or directs persons to a different location from where the sign is located.
MURAL OR GHOST:
Signs painted directly onto a building wall.
OUTDOOR ADVERTISING DISPLAY:
Meets the following:
•   Includes: Any card, paper, cloth, metal, wooden or other display or device of any kind or character, including, but not limited to, any poster, bill printing, painting or other advertisement of any kind whatsoever, including statuary, placed for outdoor advertising purposes or on the ground or any tree, wall, rock, fence, building, structure, or thing.
 
•   Does Not Include: Official notices issued by any court or public body or officer;
 
•   Notices posted by any public officer in performance of a public duty or by any person in giving legal notice;
 
•   Directional, warning or informational structure required by or authorized by law or by federal, state, county, or city authority.
POLE:
A freestanding sign that is affixed, attached, or erected on a pole that is not itself an integral part of or attached to a building or structure.
PORTABLE:
Any sign not permanently attached to the ground or a building.
PROJECTING:
A sign, normally double-faced, that is attached to, and projects from, a structure or building facade. Awning, canopy and marquee signs are not considered projecting signs.
ROOF:
A sign erected upon, against or above a roof.
SANDWICH BOARD:
A portable sign that is generally temporary in nature and that is freestanding.
SEARCHLIGHT:
A light source and a reflector for projecting a high-intensity beam of light into the sky or surrounding area.
SIGN CONTRACTOR:
Any person, partnership or corporation engaged, in whole or in part, in the erection or maintenance of signs, excluding the business that the sign advertises.
SIGN STRUCTURE:
Any device or material that supports, has supported, or is capable of supporting, a sign in a stationary position, including decorative covers.
SPECIAL EVENT:
A sign approved in connection with a special event permit approved by the common council.
SWINGING:
A sign installed on an arm or mast or spar that is not, in addition, permanently fastened to an adjacent wall or upright pole.
TEMPORARY:
A banner, pennant, poster or advertising display that is not permanently attached to a building or the ground and that is intended to be displayed for a limited period of time only. Sign, Wall. A sign attached to the wall of a building with the face in a parallel plane to the plane of the building wall. Sign, Window (or Door). A non-illuminated sign that is placed inside the glass of a window or door and that is visible from the exterior of the window or door. (Ord. 2023-7, 7-17-2023)