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(a) Findings:
(1) Signs obstruct views, distract motorists, displace alternative uses for land, and pose other problems that legitimately call for regulation. The purpose of this article is to regulate the size, color, illumination, movement, materials, location, height, and condition of all signs placed on property for exterior observation, thus ensuring the protection of property values; preservation of the character of the various neighborhoods; creation of a convenient, attractive, and harmonious community; and the safety and welfare of pedestrians and wheeled traffic, while providing convenience to citizens and encouraging economic development. This article allows adequate communication through signage while encouraging aesthetic quality in the design, location, and size of all signs. These regulations do not eliminate all the harms that may be created by the installation and display of signs. Rather, they strike an appropriate balance that preserves ample channels of communication by means of signs while still reducing and mitigating the extent of the harms caused by signs.
(2) This article shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantee of free speech. If any provision of this article is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such finding shall not affect the validity of other provisions of this article which can be given effect without the invalid provision.
(3) Signs not expressly permitted under this code are prohibited.
(4) The City of Bridgeport, the State of West Virginia and other governmental entities are not subject to the requirements of this article.
(b) Intent. Signs have a strong visual impact on the character and quality of the community. As a prominent part of the scenery, they attract or repel the viewing public, affect the safety of vehicular traffic, and their suitability or appropriateness helps to set the tone for the community. Because the City relies upon its physical setting and beauty to attract commerce, aesthetic considerations assume economic value. It is the intent of the City, through this chapter, to protect and enhance both the City's residential character and its economic base through the provision of appropriate and aesthetic signage. In addition, it is the intent of the City to limit the size, type and location of signs in order to minimize their distracting effect on drivers and thereby improve traffic safety.
(c) Purpose. The purpose of this article is to promote the public health, safety and welfare through a comprehensive system of reasonable effective consistent, content-neutral and nondiscriminatory sign standards and requirements. This article has been adopted to:
(1) Promote and accomplish the goals, policies and objectives of the City's comprehensive plan and the city council's vision, mission and goals statement;
(2) Provide minimum standards in order to safeguard life, health, property and public welfare and promote traffic safety by controlling the design, quality of materials, construction, illumination, size, location and maintenance of signs and sign structures and discouraging excessive numbers of signs;
(3) Recognize free speech rights by regulating signs in a content-neutral manner;
(4) Promote the free flow of traffic and protect pedestrians and motorists from injury and property damage caused by or which may be fully or partially attributable to cluttered, distracting and/or illegible signage;
(5) Promote a positive visual image of the City and protect the beauty of the City's built environment by encouraging signs that are compatible with the architectural style, characteristics, and scale of the building to which they may be attached; appropriate to the size of the subject property and amount of street frontage adjacent to the subject property; and compatible with adjacent buildings and businesses;
(6) Protect property values, the local economy and the quality of life by preserving and enhancing the appearance of the City's streetscape;
(7) Provide consistent sign design standards;
(8) Protect and encourage creative and innovative approaches to signage and signs that are of a quality design, pleasing in appearance and are appropriate in size, materials and illumination to the surrounding area;
(9) Provide an improved visual environment for the citizens of and visitors to the City;
(10) Adopt clear, understandable regulations which will assure equal protection and fair treatment under the law through consistent application of the regulations and consistent enforcement of the article;
(11) Balance both public and private business needs with the specific objectives of creating a community with an unmatched quality of life and strong focus on economic well-being, aesthetics, community and family, the environment and public infrastructure;
(12) Support and enhance the economic well-being of all business within the City and recognize the needs of all businesses to identify their premises and advertise their products and services;
(13) Recognize that the aesthetic value of the total environment affects economic values and that an unrestricted proliferation of signs can and does detract from the economic value of the community; and
(14) Regulate the use ofbillboard signs to certain zoning districts by recognizing that billboards affect the aesthetic value of the community, thereby reducing property values and impact traffic safety because of the distraction that is created by large signage along public rights of way.
(d) Interpretation.
(1) This article is not intended to and shall not be interpreted to restrict speech based on its content, viewpoint, or message.
(2) Any classification of signs in this article which purports to permit speech because of the type of sign or identity of the sign user or otherwise, shall be interpreted to allow either commercial or non-commercial speech on the sign.
(3) No part of this article shall be construed to favor commercial speech over noncommercial speech.
(Passed 9-14-20.)
BILLBOARD: A sign which meets any one or more of the following criteria:
(1) A permanent structure which is used for the display of off-site commercial messages;
(2) A Permanent structure sign which constitutes a principal, separate or secondary use, as opposed to an accessory use of the parcel on which it is located;
(3) A sign used as advertising for hire, e.g., on which display space is made available to parties, other than the owner or operator of the sign or occupant of the parcel in exchange for a rent, fee or other consideration; or
(4) An off-site advertising sign on which space is leased or rented.
DISPLAY SIZE OR FACE: The entire advertising area of a sign excluding framing, trim, or supporting structure.
FREESTANDING SIGN: Any sign not affixed to a building.
ILLUMINATED SIGN: Any sign illuminated by electricity, gas or other artificial light, including reflective or phosphorescent light.
STACKED SIGN: A single structure with two outdoor advertising signs with one sign placed directly above the other with their faces oriented in the same direction.
SIDE-BY-SIDE-SIGN: Two adjacent outdoor advertising signs on a single structure with both faces oriented in the same direction.
TRI-VISION SIGN: A sign constructed to use multiple face panels or slats that rotate to different messages in a fixed position.
MARQUEE SIGN: A canopy extending more than two (2) feet from a building, with lettering thereon.
MINOR SIGN: Any sign that is (1) designed to be easily moved, (2) typically not permanently attached to a structure or the ground, and (3) is not illuminated. Such signs include but are not limited to A-frame signs, banners, posters, window signs, yard signs or other movable signs. For purposes of this article, flags and vehicles are not minor signs.
MOBILE SIGN: Any sign not designed or intended to be anchored to the ground and designed and intended to be capable of being transported over public roads and streets, whether or not it is so transported.
MURAL: An on-premises sign that is hand-painted, hand tiled or other similarly created or digitally printed picture/image affixed directly onto a vertical building wall, which may or may not contain text, logos, and/ or symbols.
OFF-SITE OR OFF-PREMISES SIGN: A permanent sign that identifies, advertises or attracts attention to a business, product, service or activity sold, existing or offered at a different location. The off-premises/on-site distinction applies only to commercial messages.
ON-SITE OR ON-PREMISES SIGN: Any sign that identifies, advertises or attracts attention to a business, product, service, event or activity sold, existing or offered upon the same property or land use as the sign. The off-site/on-site distinction applies only to commercial messages.
OUTDOOR SIGN: Any permanent On-Site or On-Premises sign or any permanent noncommercial Off-Site or Off-Premises Sign. For purposes of this ordinance Billboards are excluded from the definition of Outdoor Sign.
PENNANT: Any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire, or string, usually in series, designed to move in the wind.
PERMANENT SIGN: Any sign intended and installed to be permanently in place at a given location by means of suitable fastening to a building or to a structure specifically erected to hold such sign(s) or to the ground.
ROOF SIGN: Any sign in which all or any part extends above the wall of any building or structure, where said wall does not extend above the roofline. In no event shall a sign permitted as defined by "wall sign" extend beyond the actual wall surface.
SIGN: Any material, structure or device or part thereof composed of lettered or pictorial matter or upon which lettered or pictorial matter is placed when used or located out of doors or outside or on the exterior of any building, including window display area, for display of an advertisement, announcement, notice, directional matter or name, and includes sign frames, billboards, signboards, painted wall signs, hanging signs, illuminated signs, pennants, fluttering devices, projecting signs or ground signs, and shall also include any announcement, declaration, demonstration, display, illustration or insignia used to advertise, inform or promote the interests of any person or business when the same is placed in view of the general public.
TEMPORARY SIGN: A sign intended to display either commercial or non-commercial messages of a transitory or temporary nature. A Temporary Sign includes a portable sign, or any sign not permanently embedded in the ground or not permanently affixed to a building or a sign structure that is not permanently embedded in the ground.
(Passed 9-14-20.)
(a) Application for Permit. Except for exempt signs and temporary signs, a sign permit is required prior to the display and erection of any sign.
(1) An application for a sign permit shall be filed with the Community Development Director, Code Enforcement-Officer or other authorized City personnel on forms furnished by the City. The applicant shall provide sufficient information to determine if the proposed sign is permitted under this code and other applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. An application for an electronic message display shall include the manufacturer's statement that the sign has been pre-programmed, to the extent possible, to conform to the requirements of this code. Such manufacturer's statement shall include, where applicable, the pre-stacked sign settings related to text and graphic features, message change features, message change time intervals, day and night lighting requirements, and any other settings capable of limiting the electronic message display such that it conforms to this code.
(2) The Community Development Director, Code Enforcement Officer or other authorized City personnel shall promptly process the sign permit application and approve the application, reject the application, or notify the applicant of deficiencies in the application within twenty (20) business days after receipt. Any application that complies with all provisions of this code, the building code, and other applicable laws shall be approved.
(3) If the application is rejected, the Community Development Director, Code Enforcement Officer or other authorized City personnel shall provide a list of the reasons for the rejection in writing. An application shall be rejected for noncompliance with the terms of this code, building code, or other applicable law.
(b) Permit Fee. A nonrefundable fee shall accompany all sign permit applications. The permit fee schedule shall be set by the City. If the sign is part of a new construction or renovation project, the cost of the sign permit fee shall be included in the total project permit fee.
(c) Duration and Revocation of Permit. If a sign is not installed within six (6) months following the issuance of a sign permit or the time period stated within the permit, the permit shall be void. The Community Development Director, Code Enforcement Officer or other authorized City personnel may revoke a sign permit under any of the following circumstances:
(1) The information in the application was materially false or misleading;
(2) The sign as installed does not conform to the sign pennit application; or
(3) The sign violates this code, building code, or other applicable law, regulation, or ordinance.
(d) In the case of an approval with conditions or disapproval an applicant may ask for reconsideration of the decision on the grounds that the Community Development Director, Code Enforcement Officer or other authorized City personnel may have overlooked or failed to consider any fact(s) that would support a different decision. A written request for reconsideration accompanied by such additional fact(s) as the applicant may wish the Community Development Director, Code Enforcement Officer or other authorized City personnel to consider, shall be filed with the Director or Officer within ten (10) calendar days after receipt of the decision. No fee shall be required for a request for reconsideration. The request for reconsideration shall be decided within seven (7) days of receipt by the City, not counting any intervening Saturday, Sunday or holiday. Such decision shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the reasons(s) for the decision.
(e) Appeals. Any individual or entity denied a sign permit or granted a permit with conditions shall have the right to appeal the decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals provided a written application for appeal is filed within thirty (30) days after the day of the decision. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall hear the Appeal in accordance with Section 1307.06 of this code, and shall provide a decision in writing, including a statement of the reason(s) for the decision not more than ten (10) days after the hearing.
(f) Document Service and Tracking of Decisions. All decisions shall be mailed, transmitted electronically or hand delivered to the applicant. A record shall be kept of the date or mailing, electronic transmittal or hand delivery. For the purposes of calculating compliance with the deadlines provided for herein, all decisions shall be deemed made when deposited in the mail, transmitted electronically or hand delivered to the applicant.
(Passed 9-14-20.)
The purpose of not requiring a permit for some signage is to exempt certain signs that are frequently used, often by private citizens, and which typically have less of an impact on the public safety and aesthetic concerns. Signs permitted under this section count towards the maximum sign area and maximum number of signs allowed per use. A sign permit is not required for:
(a) Signs required by law.
(b) Flags up to sixteen (16) square feet.
(c) The changing of messages on marquees and the repair of an existing permitted sign, except that repair of a nonconforming sign must comply with this code.
(d) Signs as follows, subject to sign area and height limitations of the district in which the sign is located:
(1) One (1) sign, no illumination, no more than twelve (12) square feet in area, located on property where a building permit is active.
(2) On any property for sale or rent, one sign with a total area ofup to twelve (12) square feet and a maximum height of six ( 6) feet.
(3) Window signs, provided that the total area of window signs does not exceed twenty-five (25%) percent of the total area of all windows on each building facade.
(4) On any property where a new use began activity within the last six ( 6) months banners for not more than fifteen (15) days.
(e) Two (2) minor signs per use.
(f) Pavement Markings. Any sign applied directly and entirely to and flush with an asphalt, concrete, or similar paved surface.
(g) A permanent window sign, provided that the aggregate area of all window signs on each window or door does not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the total area of the window or door.
(Passed 9-14-20.)
The purpose of prohibiting the following signage is to address the community's substantial public safety and welfare concerns, including aesthetic concerns and protecting property values, associated with certain types of signage. In addition to signs prohibited elsewhere in this code or by applicable state or federal law, the following signs are prohibited:
(a) General Prohibitions.
(1) Signs that violate any state or federal law relating to outdoor advertising or in violation of this code.
(2) Signs attached to natural vegetation.
(3) Signs simulating, or which are likely to be confused with, a traffic control sign or any other sign displayed by a public authority.
(4) Vehicle or trailer signs, defined as any sign attached to or displayed on a vehicle, if the vehicle or trailer is used for the primary purpose of advertising a business establishment, product, service, or activity and it fails to display current license plates or inspection sticker; if the vehicle is inoperable; if evidence of paid-to-date local taxes cannot be made available; or if the sign alters the standard design of such vehicle or trailer.
(5) Animated signs, except where animated sign features as part of an electronic message display are expressly permitted.
(6) Flashing signs or other signs displaying flashing, scrolling, or intermittent lights or lights of changing degrees of intensity, except where flashing features as part of an electronic message display are expressly permitted.
(7) Beacons.
(b) Prohibitions Based on Materials.
(1) Signs consisting of illuminated tubing or strings of lights outlining property lines or open sales areas, rooflines, doors, windows, or wall edges of any building, except for temporary decorations not to exceed three (3) months per year.
(2) Signs that emit smoke, flame, scent, mist, aerosol, liquid, or gas.
(3) Signs that emit sound.
(4) Neon signs, except in windows where permitted in a district.
(c) Prohibitions Based on Location.
(1) Off-premises signs, unless specifically permitted by this article.
(2) Signs erected on public land other than those approved by the Zoning Officer in writing, required by law without such approval, or permitted under West Virginia law. Any sign not so authorized is subject to immediate removal by the City, with the costs charged to the owner or person having control of such sign, with payment due within thirty (30) days of notice of charges. Removal of the sign under this provision does not preclude prosecution of the person responsible for the sign.
(3) Roof signs. Signs on the roof surface or extending above the roofline of a building or its parapet wall.
(4) Any sign located in the vision triangle formed by any two (2) or more intersecting streets or any street and alley.
(5) Window signs with an aggregate area on a window or door in excess of twenty-five percent (25%) of the total area of the window or door or located above the first floor unless the related use is only on the floor where the window sign is displayed.
(Passed 9-14-20.)
(a) Billboards, as defined herein, as of the date this section was adopted shall be permitted only in Al, B2, II and 12 Zoning Districts and shall be subject to those regulations provided for in Section 1325.08.
(b) Billboards in existence in B 1, Al, B2, II and 12 Zoning Districts as of the date this section was adopted are subject to the provisions regulating Nonconforming Billboards set forth in Section 1325.07 of this article.
(Passed 9-14-20.)
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