(A) Each sign shall be kept in a safe condition and in good order and repair at all times, so as to constitute no danger or hazard to public safety.
(B) No sign shall be erected, relocated, or maintained so as to prevent free ingress or egress from any door, window, or fire escape. No sign of any kind shall be attached to a fire escape.
(C) The Planning Director shall cause the removal and/or repair of any sign found to be unsafe or defective to the extent that it creates an immediate and/or emergency hazard to persons or property.
(D) It shall be unlawful for any owner of record, lessor, lessee, manager, agent, or other person having lawful possession or control over a building, structure, or lot to fail to maintain the property and all signage thereon.
(E) In order to protect the public from safety hazards, any inflatable, flashing, blinking, moving, or fluttering element that is used to direct or command attention or emphasis from the right-of-way is prohibited.
(F) No off-premise sign shall be permitted.
(G) Electronic message center and changeable copy.
(1) An electronic message center shall not have any element that imitates motion, blinking, swiping, or changes in intensity.
(2) Copy changes must have a static hold time of at least ten second.
(3) An electronic message center may not have a brightness of more than 0.3 footcandles above ambient lighting conditions when measured at the appropriate distance from the sign. The brightness shall be measured using an illuminance meter and shall be measured a distance from the sign equal to the square root of [100 times the sign area].
(4) No electronic message center sign shall be permitted in the Pedestrian Residential District.
(H) Sign area is calculated as the area of the entire face of a sign, including the advertising surface and any framing, trim, or molding, but not including the supporting structure. For projecting or double-faced signs where the sign faces are parallel or where the interior angle formed by the faces is 60 degrees or less, only one display face shall be measured in computing sign area, provided that the two faces are attached to a common structure. If the two faces of a double-faced sign are of unequal area, the area of the sign shall be taken as the area of the larger face.
(I) Awning or canopy sign regulations.
(1) No awning or canopy sign may be erected except with a permit.
(2) Only one awning or canopy sign may be erected per building entrance.
(3) For an awning sign (not applicable to a canopy sign), the sign area may not exceed 75% of the area of the awning’s valance portion and may not exceed 25% of the area of the awning’s sloped portion. For an awning sign, the sign copy height may not exceed 16 inches on the awning’s valance portion and may not exceed eight inches on the awning’s sloping portion.
(4) For a canopy sign, the sign width may not exceed 75% of the width of the canopy. For a canopy sign, the sign copy height may not exceed three feet.
(5) Any awning or canopy sign must maintain a minimum of eight feet of clearance above a public or private sidewalk.
(6) An awning or canopy sign may not be constructed of any material except for fabric or metal.
(7) An awning or canopy sign may not be internally illuminated except that a canopy sign may use internally illuminated channel letters.
(8) Awnings are permitted over storefront windows and doors. No awning may be substantially wider than the storefront it covers. Awnings must be supported by the building facade and may not be supported by columns that impede pedestrian movement on a sidewalk or other pedestrian-way.
(J) Building identification sign regulations.
(1) A permit is not required to erect a building identification sign.
(2) No more than one building identification sign may be displayed per building entrance. No more than two building identification signs may be displayed per building.
(3) No building identification sign may have a sign area that exceeds six square feet.
(4) No building identification sign may be mounted higher than the top of the building entrance doorway.
(5) No building identification sign may be displayed except for one constructed of wood or metal.
(6) No building identification sign may display content other than that which identifies the name or address of the building or building tenants. While this Zoning Code regulates signs in a content-neutral manner, the content of building identification signs is regulated in order to assist with the efficiency of emergency response.
(K) Monument signs regulations.
(1) No monument sign may be erected except with a permit.
(2) No more than one monument sign may be displayed per street frontage per lot.
(3) No monument sign may have a sign area that exceeds 64 square feet.
(4) Multi-tenant signs are permitted on monument signs.
(5) No monument sign may have a sign height that exceeds eight feet.
(6) No monument sign may be erected that does not have a base; no monument sign may have a base that is less than two feet in height.
(L) Projecting sign regulations.
(1) No projecting sign may be erected except with a permit.
(2) No more than one projecting sign may be erected per building entrance.
(3) No projecting sign may be erected unless the bottom of such sign is at least nine feet above grade.
(4) No projecting sign that extends more than four feet from the building face may be erected.
(5) No projecting sign may exceed a sign area of 16 square feet per sign face.
(6) No projecting sign may be erected except a projecting sign which is constructed of wood or metal.
(7) No projecting sign may be illuminated, except those that are externally illuminated.
(M) Sandwich board sign regulations.
(1) A permit is not required to display a sandwich board sign.
(2) No sandwich board sign may be displayed unless such sign is within ten feet of a building entrance and does not obstruct pedestrian flow on a sidewalk or other pedestrian-way.
(3) No sandwich board sign may be displayed which has a sign area that exceeds six square feet per side.
(4) No sandwich board sign may be displayed which has a sign width that exceeds two feet.
(5) No sandwich board sign may be displayed which has a sign height that exceeds three feet.
(6) No sandwich board sign may be illuminated.
(7) No sandwich board sign may be located within public right-of-way, except in the Central Business District after seeking and obtaining a permit from the city.
(N) Temporary sign regulations.
(1) A permit is not required to display a temporary sign.
(2) No temporary sign shall be installed in the public right-of-way.
(3) No temporary sign may have a sign area that exceeds 12 square feet.
(4) No temporary sign may have a sign height that exceeds eight feet.
(5) No property of the same postal address may have temporary signs that, in total, have an aggregate sign area that exceeds 24 square feet.
(6) No temporary sign may be illuminated.
(O) Wall sign regulations.
(1) No wall sign may be erected except with a permit.
(2) No wall sign that extends more than nine inches beyond the building face may be erected.
(P) Wayfinding sign regulations.
(1) A permit is not required to erect a wayfinding sign.
(2) No wayfinding sign may have a sign height that exceeds three feet.
(Q) Additional sign regulations are set forth for each zone or district. Such regulations are included in the following sections.
(Ord. 9098, passed 6-12-2023)