As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates:
(a) "Awning" means a projection from a building wall intended primarily for shelter or ornamentation and which can be retracted, folded or collapsed against the face of the supporting building.
(b) "Billboard" means a permanent sign directing attention to a commercial activity conducted elsewhere than upon the lot on which the sign is located.
(c) "Board" means the Board of Zoning Appeals of the Municipality as created by Article VII of the Charter.
(d) "Building unit" means a space occupying a portion of the ground floor of a building, containing an exclusive entrance from the building exterior and separated from all other ground floor spaces by a party wall or walls. For the purposes of this Chapter regulations referring to a building shall apply to a building unit if such building is divided into units.
(e) "Canopy" means a projection from a building wall intended primarily for shelter or ornamentation, and typically constructed to include a top element, or cover, and front or side overhangs.
(f) "Copy" means the letters, words, symbols or artwork displayed on a sign.
(g) "Erect" means to build, construct, attach, hang, place, suspend or affix, and shall also include the painting of wall signs.
(h) "Facing" and "surface" mean the surface of the sign upon, against or through which the message is displayed or illustrated on the sign.
(i) "Ground sign" means any sign supported by uprights or braces attached to the ground and not attached to any building.
(j) "Height" means the height above finished grade and refers only to ground (pole) signs unless otherwise indicated.
(k) "Illuminated sign" means any sign which has characters, letters, figures, designs or outline illuminated by electric lights or luminous tubes as a part of the sign proper.
(l) "Incidental sign" means a wall sign one (1) square foot or less in area and not illuminated, or, a ground sign two (2) square feet in area, four feet or less in height and not illuminated.
(m) "Marquee" means a projection from a building wall intended for the display of signs and secondarily, for shelter or ornamentation, and typically constructed to include a top element, or cover, and a bottom element, or soffit connected by vertical faces on three sides.
(n) "Multi-tenant building" means a nonresidential building served by a common entrance that contains multiple uses.
(o) "Permanent sign" means a sign permanently affixed or attached to the ground, a building or a structure and which cannot be removed without special handling such as removing or dismantling a foundation, fasteners, adhesives, or similar materials providing support or structural integrity for the sign.
(p) "Portable sign" means any sign other than a temporary sign which is made of durable materials, designed to be moved and is not permanently attached to any part of a building, structure, or to the ground.
(q) "Projecting sign" means any sign with two faces that extends outward at an angle from the wall to which it is attached.
(r) "Roof sign" means any sign erected, constructed and maintained wholly upon or over the roof or parapet wall of any building, with the principal support on the roof structure.
(s) "Sign" means any visual communication including but not limited to any writing, pictorial representation, mural illustration, emblem, symbol, design, drawing, banner, flag, placard, pennant, poster or other similar device that is visible from a dedicated right of way, private street, alley, sidewalk, or other public place and is used for purpose of advertisement, announcement, declaration, demonstration, identification or expression or directing attention to a person, institution, organization, business, activity, place, object or product.
(t) "Sign panel" means a structural object or portion of a structural object, including painted surfaces, designed to form a distinct background area or frame for display of a sign's copy or information. However, an architectural frame or space integral to a building's design and not differentiated from the wall by color shall not be considered a sign panel.
(u) "Temporary sign" means a sign constructed of cloth, paper, wood, metal, fabric, or other material that is not intended to be permanently installed in the ground nor permanently affixed to a building or structure and is intended for use for a limited period of time.
(v) "Wall sign" means any sign painted on, attached to, or erected against or integrated into the wall of a building or structure, with the exposed face of the sign in a plane parallel to the plane of the wall.
(w) "Window sign" means any sign lettered directly on a window or placed on the inside of a window so as to be read from the outside. The glass or clear plastic portion of an exterior door shall be considered a window for purposes of this definition.
(x) References to "zoning districts" herein refer to the districts established in Chapter 1119. (Ord. 2019-39. Passed 8-13-19.)