§ 12.6 SIGNS PERMITTED WITH A LAND DEVELOPMENT PERMIT.

   This section sets forth the standards for the types of signs that are required to obtain a land development permit prior to their construction, erection, enlargement, display, alteration, or illumination

   12.6.1   Permitted signs by Base Zoning District. Table 12-1, Permitted Signs by Base Zoning District, prescribes the allowable types, numbers, dimensions, locations, and configurations of permitted signs within the Base Zoning Districts.

Table 12-1 Permitted Signs By Base Zoning District
Sign Type	Use Type	Maximum Area (Sq. Ft. per Face)	Maximum Height (Feet)	Maximum Number	Location	Illumination
RP and RR Districts
Directory Sign	Civic and institutional	6	4	1	5 feet behind curb or 10 feet from edge of pavement	External
Monument Sign	SF detached residential subdivision	36	8	1	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	External
	Nonresidential	48
Wall Sign (Front)	Nonresidential	5% of wall area, up to 36 sq. ft. per sign	1 story building: below roof. 2+ story building: below sill of 2nd floor windows	1	N/A	Internal
Wall Sign (Side)				1 per facade
RS, RT, RMX, and RMF Districts
Directory Sign	Civic and institutional	6	4	1	5 feet behind curb or 10 feet from edge of pavement	External
Monument Sign	SF detached residential subdivision	36	8	1 per development entrance	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	External
	Attached residential (min. 10 units)
	Civic and institutional	48		1 per street frontage, with a minimum separation of 200 feet between signs
Wall Sign (Front)	Civic and institutional	5% of wall area, up to 48 sq. ft. per sign	1 story building: below roof. 2+ story building: below sill of 2nd floor windows	1	N/A	Internal
Wall Sign (Side)				1 per facade
NB and CB Districts
Awning Sign	Nonresidential	25% of awning area	Limited to awnings associated with the 1st floor	N/A	N/A	None
Canopy Sign	Commercial use with fuel sales	10% of canopy face	N/A	1 per street frontage	N/A	None
Directory Sign	Civic and institutional	10	4	1	5 feet behind curb or 10 feet from edge of pavement	External
	Commercial	5 per tenant up to 25 sq. ft.	6	1 per street entrance	Not visible from public ROW
Hanging Sign	All uses	16 inches high by 36 inches wide	7.5 feet above sidewalk (minimum)	1 per establishment	Under awning	None
Monument Sign	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	48	8	1 per street frontage with minimum 200 feet of separation between signs	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	Internal or external
	Multi-tenant buildings	60
Pole Sign	Nonresidential uses	60	20			Internal
Projecting Sign	All uses	36	10 feet above grade (minimum)	1 per establishment	Signs shall be located in such a manner that the top of the sign does not extend past the roofline	Internal
Wall Sign (Front)	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	1 per linear foot of building or suite facing the street, up to 75 sq. ft. per sign	1 story building: below roof. 2+ story building: below sill of 2nd floor windows	2	N/A	Internal
	Multi-tenant buildings			1 per tenant
Wall Sign (Side)	All uses	5% of wall area, up to 50 sq. ft. per sign		1 per facade
Window Sign	All uses	50% of total window area on first floor facade			First floor primary facade	None
OI District
Awning Sign	Nonresidential	25% of awning area.	Limited to awnings associated with the 1st floor	N/A	N/A	None
Directory Sign	Civic and institutional	10	4	1	5 feet behind curb or 10 feet from edge of pavement	External
	All other uses	5 per tenant up to 25 sq. ft.	6	1 per street entrance	Not visible from public ROW
Hanging Sign	All uses	16 inches high by 36 inches wide	7.5 feet above sidewalk (minimum)	1 per establishment	Under awning	None
Monument Sign	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	48	8	1 per street frontage with minimum 200 feet of separation between signs	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	External
Wall Sign (Front)	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	1 per linear foot of building or suite facing the street, up to 50 sq. ft. per sign	1 story building: below roof. 2+ story building: below sill of 2nd floor windows	2	N/A	Internal
	Multi-tenant buildings			1 per tenant
Wall Sign (Side)	All uses	10% of wall area, up to 25 sq. ft. per sign		1 per facade
Window Sign	All uses	25% of total window area on first floor facade			First floor primary facade	None
HB District
Awning Sign	All uses	35% of awning area	Limited to awnings associated with the 1st floor	N/A	N/A	None
Canopy Sign	Commercial use with fuel sales	20% of canopy face	N/A	1 per street frontage	N/A	None
Directory Sign	Civic and institutional	12	4	1	5 feet behind curb or 10 feet from edge of pavement	External
	Commercial	5 per tenant up to 50 sq. ft.	6	1 per street entrance	Not visible from outside of the development
Interstate Sign	All uses	450	50	1 billboard or interstate sign per parcel	Signs must be located within 50 feet of the ROW of 1-85 or an access road to 1-85 abutting the 1-85 ROW; no closer than 1,000 feet from any other interstate sign or billboard; and located only on parcels with a minimum of 1,800 linear ft. of road frontage abutting ROW of I-85 or an access road abutting ROW of I-85	Internal or external
Monument Sign	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	48	8	1 per street frontage with minimum 200 feet of separation between signs	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	Internal or external
	Multi-tenant buildings	80
Pole Sign	Commercial uses	120	30			Internal
Projecting Sign	All uses	48	10 feet above grade (minimum)	1 per establishment	Signs shall be located in such a manner that the top of the sign does not extend past the roofline	Internal
Wall Sign (Front)	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	1 per linear foot of building or suite facing the street, up to 125 sq. ft. per sign	1 story building: below roof. 2+ story building: below sill of 2nd floor windows	4	N/A	Internal
	Multi-tenant buildings			1 per tenant
Wall Sign (Side)	All uses	5% of wall area, up to 75 sq. ft. per sign		1 per facade
Interstate Wall Sign	All interstate frontage buildings	15% of wall area up to an aggregate total of 450 sq. ft.		4	Signage must be located on the building facade which faces the interstate
Window Sign	All uses	50% of total window area on first floor facade			First floor primary facade	None
LI District
Awning Sign	All uses	25% of awning area	Limited to awnings associated with the 1st floor	N/A	N/A	None
Canopy Sign	Commercial use with fuel sales	20% of canopy face	N/A	1 per street frontage	N/A	None
Directory Sign	All uses	5 per tenant up to 50 sq. ft.	6	1	5 feet behind curb or 10 feet from edge of pavement.	External
Monument Sign	All uses	80	8	1 per street frontage with minimum 200 feet of separation between signs	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	Internal or external
Pole Sign	All uses	100	25			Internal
Wall Sign (front)	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	1 per linear foot of building or suite facing the street, up to 100 sq. ft. per sign	Below roof line	2	N/A	Internal
	Multi-tenant buildings			1 per tenant
Wall Sign (side)	All uses	5% of wall area, up to 75 sq. ft. per sign	Below roof line	1 per facade	N/A	Internal
Window Sign	All uses	50% of total window area on first floor facade			First floor primary facade	None
HI District
Billboard (Outdoor Advertising Sign)	All uses	450	35	1 per parcel	Signs must be located within 50 feet of the ROW of 1-85	External
Interstate Sign	All uses	450	50	1 billboard or interstate sign per parcel	Signs must be located within 50 feet of the ROW of 1-85 or an access road to 1-85 abutting the 1-85 ROW; no closer than 1,000 feet from any other interstate sign or billboard; and located only on parcels with a minimum of 1,800 linear ft of road frontage abutting ROW of I-85 or an access road abutting ROW of I-85	Internal or external
Monument Sign	All uses	100	8	1 per street frontage with minimum 200 feet of separation between signs	At least 5 feet behind ROW and at least 10 feet from any property line	Internal or external
Pole Sign	All uses	150	35			Internal
Wall Sign (front)	All uses (except multi-tenant buildings)	1 per linear foot of building or suite facing the street, up to 150 sq. ft. per sign	Below roof line	4	N/A	Internal
	Multi-tenant buildings			1 per tenant
Interstate Wall Sign	All interstate frontage buildings	15% of wall area with an aggregate total of 450 sq. ft.		4	Signage must be located on the building facade which faces the interstate
Wall Sign (side)	All uses	5% of wall area, up to 100 sq. ft. per sign		1 per facade	N/A

 

   12.6.2   Additional sign standards. The following standards shall apply in addition to those set forth in Table 12-1.

   (A)   Attached signage.

      (1)   Projecting signs and wall signs may not be located on the same facade of a structure.

      (2)   Wall signs shall not project more than 18 inches from the wall to which they are attached.

      (3)   Projecting signs may not project more than four feet from the wall to which they are attached.

      (4)   No attached sign or its supporting structure shall cover any window or part of a window.

   (B)   Freestanding signage.

      (1)   No more than one type of freestanding sign (monument sign or pole sign) may be used on a single parcel.

      (2)   Monument signs may only be erected along a street frontage where the principal structure is set back at least 15 feet from the right-of-way.

      (3)   Pole signs may only be erected along a street frontage where the principal structure is set back at least 30 feet from the right-of-way.

      (4)   In parcels with an interstate sign, no pole sign or monument sign may be erected so as to be seen from I-85.

   (C)   Electronic message boards.

      (1)   Electronic message boards may only be included as a feature on monument, pole, or interstate signs.

      (2)   Electronic message boards shall not comprise more than 25% of the permitted area of the sign on which they are included.

      (3)   The display on an electronic message board may not change more frequently than once per minute. Animated message transitions are not allowed.

      (4)   The display on any electronic message board that can be seen from 1-85 must be static.

   (D)   Billboards (outdoor advertising signs).

      (1)   No billboard shall be erected within a 1,000 foot radius of another billboard or interstate sign within the town’s jurisdiction.

      (2)   Billboards shall comply with all NCDOT permitting requirements and regulations pertaining to the clearing of vegetation within the right-of-way.

   (E)   Sign appearance.

      (1)   The use of high intensity colors or fluorescent pigments is prohibited.

      (2) All signs and sign supports must be constructed of materials that present a finished appearance. Rough cut plywood and recycled telephone poles are not permitted.

      (3)   The sign’s lettering should be professionally applied; a graffiti look with hand painted or paint stenciled letters is not acceptable.

      (4)   Exposed neon signs are prohibited.