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Permits are required for the following sign types: Awning, Vehicle-Oriented Directional, Wall-Mounted Directional, Drive-through Lane, Principal Ground, Entry Monument, New Construction Alternative, Suspended, Verandah, Projecting, Wall (except for signs on property containing a single-unit residence or duplex), Façade Renovation Alternative, and New Business Alternative. No other sign types shall require a sign permit.
(A) Sign Permits
If a sign requiring a permit under this chapter is to be placed, constructed, erected or modified on a site, the owner of the lot or parcel shall secure a sign permit prior to the construction, placement, erection or modification of such a sign in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and the procedure listed in Section 3.16. No sign permit shall be issued for the erection of a prohibited sign. Until a sign permit is obtained from and the appropriate fee paid to the town, no permanent sign shall be erected, altered, relocated, maintained or displayed. The sign permit is in addition to any building permit required to be obtained pursuant to the provisions of the State building code.
No sign permit or permit fee shall be required for changing the copy of a sign, including any change of copy on a changeable copy sign, as long as no changes are made to the sign's height, size, location, or structure. A sign lawfully erected may be repainted or have ordinary and customary repairs performed, including replacement of plastic or glass panels, without a sign permit; however, if such sign is to be structurally altered in any manner, a new sign permit shall be required and the altered sign must meet all requirements of this Chapter and the Land Development Ordinance.
(B) Building Permits
The town has no authority to waive or provide variances to the State building code, therefore all signs shall comply with applicable provisions of the State building code.
(C) Electrical Permits
Electric signs that have internal wiring or lighting equipment, and external lighting equipment that directs light on signs, shall not be erected or installed until an electrical permit has been obtained from the Inspections and Permits Department. All such signs and equipment shall bear the seal of approval of an electrical testing laboratory that is nationally recognized as having the facilities for testing and requires proper installation in accordance with the National Electrical Code. All wiring to electric signs, or to freestanding equipment that lights a sign, shall be installed underground.
No sign may be displayed without the consent of the legal owner of the property on which the sign is mounted or displayed. For purposes of this Chapter, "owner" means the holder of the legal title to the property and any party and person holding a present right to possession, control, or use of the property.
All permanent signs shall be maintained in good structural condition, in compliance with all building and electrical codes, and in conformance with this chapter, and shall adhere to the following provisions:
(A) A sign shall have no more than twenty (20) percent of its surface area covered with disfigured, cracked, ripped or peeling paint, poster paper or other material for a period of more than thirty (30) days.
(B) A sign shall not stand with bent or broken sign facing, with broken supports, with loose appendages or struts, or more than fifteen (15) degrees from vertical for a period of more than ten (10) days.
(C) A sign shall not have weeds, trees, vines, or other vegetation growing upon it, or obscuring the view of the sign from the public right-of-way from which it is to be viewed, for a period of more than thirty (30) days.
(D) An internally illuminated sign shall be allowed to stand with only partial illumination for a period of no more than thirty (30) days.
(E) Flags shall not be faded, tattered, or torn.
(A) General
Violations of this chapter and enforcement procedures are addressed in Chapter 11.
(B) Removal of Signs Creating Traffic Hazard
Any signs or light sources deemed to create a traffic hazard per Sections 9.1.4(C)(13) or 9.1.4(C)(14) shall be removed at the direction of the Planning Director. If not removed by owners or occupants of the property within ten (10) days of notice, the Director shall cause the signs to be otherwise removed, and the cost of removal shall become a lien against the property until satisfied.
(C) Removal of Unauthorized Signs in Public Right-of-Way
Any sign placed in the public right-of-way in violation of this Chapter 9 shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be seized by the enforcement official or other representative of the Town, and the person owning or placing the sign may be charged both with a violation of this chapter and with the cost of removing and disposing of the sign.
(D) Removal of Discontinued Signs
Within sixty (60) days after a sign on a permanent freestanding sign structure or a permanent wall sign becomes a discontinued sign, it shall be the responsibility of the property owner to remove the discontinued sign and any associated sign structure and to patch and conceal any and all damage to any property resulting from the removal of the discontinued sign and associated sign structure, if any. The removal of a discontinued sign shall include all sign support components, angle irons, poles, and other remnants of the discontinued sign, which are not currently in use, or proposed for immediate reuse as evidenced by a sign permit application for a permitted sign.
(E) Removal of Unsafe Signs
The Planning Director, with or without notice, may secure the immediate removal of an unsafe sign or insecure sign if in his or her judgment and opinion the sign presents an immediate peril to the public health and safety.
Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter 9 or this Land Development Ordinance to the contrary, no sign or sign structure shall be subject to any limitation based upon the viewpoint of the message contained on such sign or displayed on such sign structure.
Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter to the contrary, any sign allowed under this Chapter, without a permit, by sign permit, or by variance, may contain, in lieu of any other message or copy, any lawful noncommercial message so long as said sign complies with the size, height, area and other requirements of this Chapter.
(A) Generally
If any part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter is declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, the declaration of such unconstitutionality shall not affect any other part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter.
(B) Severability where less speech results
Without diminishing or limiting in any way the declaration of severability set forth above in subsection (A), above, or elsewhere in this chapter, the LDO, or any adopting ordinance, if any part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter is declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, the declaration of such unconstitutionality shall not affect any other part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter, even if such severability would result in a situation where there would be less speech, whether by subjecting previously exempt signs to permitting or otherwise.
(C) Severability of provisions pertaining to prohibited signs
Without diminishing or limiting in any way the declaration of severability set forth above in subsection (A), above, or elsewhere in this chapter, the LDO, or any adopting ordinance, if any part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter or any other law is declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, the declaration of such unconstitutionality shall not affect any other part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter that pertains to prohibited signs, including specifically those signs and sign types prohibited and not allowed under Section 9.1.4(C). Furthermore, if any part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of Section 9.1.4(C) is declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, the declaration of such unconstitutionality shall not affect any other part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of Section 9.1.4(C) thereby ensuring that as many prohibited sign types as may be constitutionally prohibited continue to be prohibited.
(D) Severability of prohibition on billboards
If any part, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, phrase, clause, term, or word of this Chapter and/or any other LDO provisions and/or laws are declared invalid or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, the declaration of such unconstitutionality shall not affect the prohibition on billboards as contained in this Chapter or this LDO.
(Ord. No. 2016-LDO-02, 12-8-16; Ord. No. 2022-LDO-02, 4-28-22)
New Ordinance Notice:
Publisher's Note: Section 9.2 has been amended by Ord. 2023-LDO-01, approved 2/9/2023, effective 2/9/2023.
Publisher's Note: Section 9.2 has been amended by Ord. 2023-LDO-01, approved 2/9/2023, effective 2/9/2023.
This Section 9.2 applies to permanent signs in all zoning districts.
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