(A) Real estate signs. No person, either as owner or real estate agent, shall post any sign except as follows:
(1) One sign per lot, not to exceed six square feet in size, not to contain any electrical component and not to be lighted in any way;
(2) If the sign is posted by a real estate agency, the wording shall be limited appropriately to indicate that the property is for sale or rent, the name and telephone number of the agency, the listing firm website, and the multiple listing service number, texting code, or individual website assigned to the home for sale;
(3) If the sign is posted by an owner, the wording shall be limited to appropriately indicate that the property is for sale or rent, the name of seller, if so desired, a telephone number, and individual website assigned to the home for sale;
(4) Wording shall be the same on both sides of the sign if both sides are exposed to the roadway;
(5) The sign shall be set back at least 20 feet from the nearest edge of the pavement of the public road on which the house fronts or faces and in no event shall the sign be located within any public road right-of-way;
(6) No portion of the sign shall extend more than four feet above the ground;
(7) The sign shall be removed no later than three days after the closing of the sale of the property;
(8) If a sign is for commercial use in the R-4 or R-5 Residential Zoning District and does not comply with the limitations herein, application must be made to the Board of Commissioners for approval; and
(9) The owner of a residential lot and the real estate agent placing a real estate sign on the residential lot shall each be responsible for any violation of this section.
(B) Construction signs. Signs advertising the name of an individual or company constructing or renovating a house or other building on a property are allowed as follows:
(1) On any residential lot on which construction or renovation has begun, neither the general contractor nor the owner of the residential lot shall post or permit to be posted more than one sign in addition to any sign required by law to be posted (e.g. building permits and the like);
(2) The general contractor may place one sign on the residential lot on which construction or renovation has begun, which sign shall not exceed six square feet in size and shall be limited in wording to the street number or address of the property and the name, address, and telephone number of the general contractor. The general contractor's sign shall also be subject to divisions (A)(1), (A)(4), (A)(5), and (A)(6) above. The general contractor's sign shall be removed from the property not later than three days from the completion of construction by the general contractor or occupancy by the owner of the property being constructed, whichever comes first; and
(3) The sign shall be set back at least 20 feet from the nearest edge of pavement of the public road on which the house fronts or faces. The sign shall not be posted in the public right-of-way.
(4) The owner of the residential lot and the general contractor shall be responsible for any violation of this section.
(C) No trespassing signs. No trespassing signs are allowed on private property provided the signs are erected as follows:
(1) The sign(s) shall be posted in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders and include notice not to enter the premises, with verbiage limited to the following, or some combination thereof:
(a) No Trespassing
(b) Do Not Enter
(c) Private Property
(2) The sign(s) shall not exceed two square feet in size, not contain electrical components, and not be lighted in any way, including reflective, luminous, or "glow in the dark" components.
(3) The sign(s) must be set back at least ten feet from the nearest edge of the pavement on the public road or street, and in no event shall the sign be located within any public road or right-of-way.
(4) If a property has multiple driveways, a sign may be allowed at each driveway entrance.
(5) There may be no more than one sign every 50 feet. There may be no more than four signs on a single parcel.
(6) Signs may not be placed within a side yard or rear yard setback, according to the setbacks in place for that specific zoning district. The only exception to this provision is found in division (C)(7) below.
(7) Properties that abut non-residential property may place no trespassing signs on the property line, but only on the property line where these properties abut non-residential property.
(8) No portion of the sign(s) shall extend more than two feet above the ground.
(9) Signs may not include neon, "day-glow", or fluorescent colors.
(10) The owner of a residential property placing a no trespassing sign on the property shall be responsible for any violation of this section.
(D) Political and ideological signs. Political and ideological signs are allowed on private property provided the signs are erected as follows:
(1) Each sign shall not exceed four square feet in size and not contain any electrical component or be lighted in any way;
(2) The sign shall not be located within the town owned public right-of-way or on town property and must be set back at least 20 feet from the nearest edge of the paved road on which the house fronts or faces and shall not encroach on the public right-of-way;
(3) No portion of the sign is to extend more than four feet above the ground;
(4) A sign located on private property requires the owner's approval;
(5) Up to four political signs may be placed on private property beginning 30 days before the beginning of early voting for a primary or general election. Political signs should be removed within five days after the primary, general or special election; and
(6) Political and ideological signs are not allowed on town property.
(E) Security company signs. Security company signs are allowed on private property as follows:
(1) On any residential or business property with a commercial security system, up to two signs bearing the name of the security company and appropriate contact information, may be posted;
(2) The signs shall not exceed one square foot in size, not contain electrical components and not be lighted in any way;
(3) The signs shall be set back at least ten feet from the nearest edge of the pavement on the public road or street.
(F) Invisible fencing signs. Signs indicating the presence and location of underground fencing are allowed as follows:
(1) On any property with an underground "invisible fence," up to two signs noting the presence of the invisible fence and the name of the company providing the fence may be posted on the property;
(2) The signs shall not exceed one square foot in size, not contain electrical components and not be lighted in any way;
(3) The signs shall be set back at least ten feet from the nearest edge of the pavement on the public road or street.
(4) For the purpose of this subchapter, temporary flags indicating the installation of underground (invisible) fencing shall be removed no later than 45 days after installation.
(G) Flags for underground utilities. Flags for underground utilities are allowed on a temporary basis to indicate the presence and location of underground utilities.
(H) Signs located in the R-4 and R-5 Zoning Districts.
(1) On any lot occupied by a business in the R-4 and R-5 Districts, on-premises signs are allowed provided the following definitions and permit requirements are met.
(2) For the purpose of this division (H), the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ATTACHED SIGN. Any sign attached to, applied on, or supported by the front wall or wall facing street of a building.
CLEARANCE. The vertical distance from the established finished grade to the lowest edge of the sign.
DEVELOPMENT IDENTIFICATION SIGN. A sign bearing only the name of the multiple tenant development.
ERECT. To construct, build, raise, assemble, install, place, replace, locate, affix, attach, display, alter, use, create, paint, draw, illuminate, or in any other way bring into being or establish.
FREESTANDING POLE SIGN. A sign which is permanently affixed to the ground by a
pole or other structure and which is not part of the building.
GRADE. The lowest point at which a sign is attached to the ground.
GROUND SIGN. A freestanding sign flush to the ground and not elevated upon poles or
stanchions and not attached to the building.
HEIGHT. The vertical distance between the highest part of the sign or its supporting structure, whichever is highest, and the base of the sign at grade.
INTERNALLY ILLUMINATED. Any sign designed to provide artificial light either through exposed lighting on the sign face or through transparent or translucent material, from a light source within the sign.
LOT. A parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by a building or group of buildings devoted to a common use.
MULTIPLE TENANT DEVELOPMENT. A development in which there exists a number of individual or separate activities and in which there are appurtenant-shared facilities (such as parking areas).
NONCONFORMING SIGN. Any sign which was allowed when erected or displayed but which does not conform with the standards of this subchapter, and any sign which was not allowed but was nonetheless impermissibly created or displayed before the effective date of this subchapter and any amendments thereto.
ON-PREMISES SIGN. Any sign used for the purpose of displaying, advertising, identifying, or directing attention to a business, products, operations, or services sold or offered on the lots where the sign is located.
SETBACK. The horizontal distance between the leading face of the curb of a street and the closest point of a sign or sign structure on such lot. Where there is not a curb, the measurement shall be made from the edge of the pavement.
SIGN. Any words, lettering, numerals, parts of letters or numerals, figure, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names, or trademarks by which anything is known, made of any material, except live vegetation, including any surface, fabric, or other material background structure designed to carry such devices, as are used to designate or attract attention.
SIGN STRUCTURE. Any structure which supports, has supported or is capable of supporting a sign.
SINGLE TENANT. A single business establishment, activity or use.
WALL SIGN. Any sign painted or attached flat against and parceled to the exterior wall or surface of a building or other structure and/or which projects from the wall or surface.
(3) On-premises single-tenant signs.
(a) Allowed within the R-4 and R-5 Zoning District may be either:
1. Freestanding. Pole or ground; or
2. Attached. Wall.
(b) Two business identification signs are allowed per lot, only one of which shall be a freestanding or ground sign. For freestanding or attached signs, the total allowable area per face of selected sign(s) shall not exceed 40 square feet per face, with two faces per freestanding or ground sign allowed. In the event the freestanding sign is less than the 40 square feet per face allowed, the size of the attached sign erected may be increased by that difference. Signs may be internally or externally illuminated.
(c) Additionally, the following requirements must be met based on the type of sign selected:
1. If freestanding pole or ground, then the sign shall be a maximum of eight feet in height with a minimum setback of ten feet; and
2. If wall, then the maximum projection from a wall shall be six inches.
(4) On-premises multiple-tenant development signs.
(a) On-premises multiple-tenant development signs allowed within the R-4 and R-5 Zoning District may be either:
1. Freestanding; pole or ground attached; or
2. Wall.
(b) For a multiple-tenant development, the development itself is allowed one identification sign. For a freestanding sign, the total allowable area per face of selected sign shall not exceed 60 square feet with two faces per freestanding or ground sign allowed. If freestanding pole or ground, the sign shall be a maximum of 20 feet in height and minimum setback of 15 feet. Individual tenants within the development shall be allowed one attached wall sign not to exceed ten square feet, and at the due discretion of the Board of Commissioners, not more than two, not to exceed ten square feet. The maximum projection from a wall shall be six inches.
(I) The owner of the business establishment erecting a sign shall be responsible for any violation of this subchapter.
(J) Any sign removed by the town for violation of division (A) or (B) of this section shall be disposed of by the town within five days from the date the sign is removed from the residential lot unless the residential lot owner, real estate agent or general contractor, as the case may be, claims said sign within the five-day period.
(2013 Code, § 15-2) (Ord. passed 9-15-1987; Ord. passed 12-8-1990; Ord. passed 9- -2002; Ord. 2021-02, passed 2-9-2021; Ord. 2022-03, passed 3-8-2022)