(a) Permits.
(1) No sign, signboard, or portion thereof shall be erected, added to or altered, unless excepted below, until an application for a Building Permit/Sign has been submitted and approved for the erection, addition or alteration by the Code Enforcement Office. Applications may be filed by the owner or his authorized agent or licensed contractor performing the work and shall be on forms provided by the Code Enforcement Office. At a minimum, all applications shall include a scale drawing specifying dimensions of the sign to be erected, the location of the sign, the height of the sign, the lettering, and words to be used, type of materials to be used, any proposed lighting of the sign, and any additional information required by the Code Enforcement Office in order to determine if the proposed sign meets the requirements of this article for approval.
A. The following signs shall not be required to submit an application for a Building Permit/Sign or be issued a sign permit; however, any such sign erected shall be in accordance with all applicable City Ordinances and/or provisions of this article with respect to location, size and duration of posting.
1. Address
2. Construction
3. For Sale, Rent, or Lease
4. Political must be removed within 2 weeks following the designated election date
5. No Turn Around, No Trespassing, and Dog On Premises
6. Hours of Operation
(2) A Building Permits/Sign designated for signage shall only be issued if the Code Enforcement Office determines that the proposed sign complies or will comply with all applicable provisions of this article. Building Permits/Sign shall be issued for the life of the sign or for any shorter period as stated on the permit approved by the Code Enforcement Office. However, any permit may be revoked at any time by the Code Enforcement Office upon finding that the sign violates any provision of this article or that the applicant made any false representations in securing the permit.
(Ord. 19-2. Passed 3-21-19.)
Alternatively, rather than approving or denying a Building Permit/Sign, the Code Enforcement Office may provisionally approve a Building Permit/Sign if it determines that the application for a Building Permit/Sign would violate a provision of federal and/or state law such that, even if the Building Permit/Sign were approved, the activity would not be allowed under federal and/or state law. If the Code Enforcement Office provisionally approves a Building Permit/Sign that shall operate as a denial of the Building Permit/Sign unless and until the Code Enforcement Office receives an official communication, in writing, from the federal and/or state entity which has the authority to grant variances, exceptions, and/or permission to persons who wish to erect and/or utilize signs in a manner inconsistent with said federal and/ or state law and that said communication indicates that said federal and/ or state entity has either approved said signage and/or-would approve said signage if the City were to issue a Building Permit/Sign, then the Code Enforcement Office shall forthwith issue the previously provisionally approved Building Permit/Sign without any need for further action by the applicant and said Building Permit/Sign shall thereafter be treated for all purposes as an approved Building Permit/Sign. (Ord. 20-7. Passed 1-16-20.)
(3) The Code Enforcement Office shall act within thirty (30) days of receipt of an application for a Building Permit/Sign. Permit applications that are incomplete or that are not submitted with the required fee will be returned to the applicant.
(4) The construction of the permitted sign must commence within ninety (90) days of the date the Building Permit/Sign was issued and be completed within one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date of issuance.
A. If the construction is not commenced within the above-mentioned ninety (90) days of the date of issuance or is not completed within the one hundred and eighty (180) day period, the Building Permit/Sign issued will be null and void. The property owner, agent or contractor may extend the Building Permit/Sign for an additional 90 days at no additional charge, provided there are no changes to the design of the originally approved Permit.
(5) An application for a Building Permit/Sign, which is denied by the Code Enforcement Office, shall be returned to the applicant along with a written response stating the specific sections of this article that the application failed to meet. The permit fee will be returned.
(6) Appeals of decisions of the Code Enforcement Office for denial of permits, revocations of permits or violations of Article 1335A, shall be heard by the Board of Zoning Appeals after paying the required fee and filing of a written appeal stating the petitioner's belief an exception or variance should be granted or an error in the interpretation of the required article has occurred. The burden of proof supporting an exception, variance or misinterpretation of the required article lies solely with the petitioner.
(7) Before sign construction begins, the Code Enforcement Office shall inspect the site to ensure that the construction will comply with the permit issued. The Code Enforcement Office may employ any method necessary to determine if the actual sign construction will comply with the permit issued.
(8) For new construction, the Building Permit may incorporate the Permit for signage within the application for new construction.
(b) Fees.
(1) Fees for the application for a Building Permit/Sign may be prescribed by City Council. Such a fee shall be based on a fee schedule as part of Section 1712.06 Building Permit; which may be revised from time to time through resolution by City Council. If a fee is prescribed, it shall be submitted by the applicant to the City Finance Department in conjunction with the application for Building Permit/Sign.
(c) Enforcement. The Code Enforcement Office is hereby designated as the duly authorized Department to enforce the regulations of this Article. The Code Enforcement Office is authorized to order repairs or removal of any sign and/or its supporting structure which is dangerous to the public, is in disrepair, or is erected or maintained in violation of the rules and regulations of this Article.
(d) Measurement of Sign Area.
(1) Sign measurements shall be based on the entire area of the sign board, with a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of the actual sign board.
(2) Signs of irregular shape, wall signs, and/or signs that use cut-out letters, figures, pictures, illustrations, or numbers and no sign board is utilized, the area of the sign is measured by encompassing all of the cut-out letters, figures, pictures, illustrations, or numbers in the smallest rectangle possible.
(3) When a sign has two (2) or more faces, the area of all faces shall be included in determining the sign area, except where two faces are placed back-to-back and arc at no point more than two (2) feet from each other, and the exact same message, color, size, and figures are utilized on all sign faces. In such a case, only the area of one (1) sign face shall be utilized to calculate the sign area.
(e) Measurement of Sign Height.
(1) The height of the sign shall be measured from the finished ground elevation nearest to the sign to the highest elevation of the sign.
(2) Signs shall not exceed the height limits established in this article, but in no event shall any portion of any sign exceed the height limit established for structures in the applicable zoning district.
(f) Maintenance. All signs shall be constructed of durable material and shall be kept in good repair at all times. All parts and supports shall be painted or maintained as necessary to prevent nesting, rotting, illegibility, or other deterioration. All broken or missing parts shall be promptly replaced. All seams between panels or other components of the sign shall be maintained in a sealed condition.
(g) Removal of Signs. Any sign which is not in conformance with the rules and regulations of this article shall be removed or brought into conformance with the applicable rules and regulations of this article as follows.
(1) Any sign which has been properly permitted but is not maintained in accordance with subsection (f) hereof shall be considered a public nuisance. If such a sign is determined to be a public nuisance the Code Enforcement Office shall inform the owner of the sign and/or the property owner where the sign is located that such sign is a public nuisance. The notice shall also list the specific violations being caused by the sign and inform the owner of the sign or the property owner that he shall have ten (10) days from receipt of the notice to contact the Code Enforcement Office and discuss the repairs necessary. In addition to other remedies provided by this article, if the owner of the sign fails to contact the Code Enforcement Office in the above- stated time period, the City may enter upon the premises upon which the sign is erected and remove the sign along with its supporting structure or hanging devices. All costs and expenses of removal shall be the obligation of the owner of the sign and/or the owner of the property where the sign is erected and the City may proceed to collect said costs and expenses in any method prescribed by law which may include citations for non-compliance.
(2) Any sign which has been erected, after the date of this article, but has not received a valid Building Permit/Sign from the Code Enforcement Office, or in the case where a sign is not required to obtain a permit but is not in conformance with the rules and regulations of this article, as required by this article, in addition to other remedies provided by this article, may be removed by the City. Before removing any sign which, has been erected but has not received a valid Building Permit/Sign from the Code Enforcement Office, the Code Enforcement Office shall make a reasonable attempt to contact the property owner where the sign is located or contact the owner/erector of the sign. If contact of the aforesaid persons cannot be accomplished or if the aforesaid persons are contacted but fail to secure a permit for the sign or fail to remove the sign in a prescribed period of time, the City shall have the right to remove the sign and proceed to recover the cost and expenses for the sign removal and may issue citations for non-compliance.
The City shall make every effort to remove the sign and/or its supporting structure without damaging the sign or its structure, however, the City shall assume no liability if the sign and/or its supporting structure is damaged. The sign shall be stored by the City and the Code Enforcement Office shall attempt to contact the owner of the sign in order for the owner of the sign to retrieve the sign from the City. However, if the owner of the sign cannot be contacted or does not retrieve the sign after being notified, the City may dispose of the sign after thirty (30) days of the date of sign removal or after thirty (30) days from the date the owner was contacted, whichever is greater. If a sign is disposed by the City, the City shall not be liable for the costs of the sign.
(3) Any sign which is left erected after a business has relocated or gone out of business shall be removed from the premises no later than thirty (30) days from the date the business relocated or went out of business. If the sign is not removed within the thirty (30) day time period, the City shall inform the owner of the sign and/or the owner of the property where the sign is located that such sign is in violation of this article and specify the time in which the sign must be removed. In addition to other remedies provided by this article, the City may remove the sign after thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice by the owner of the sign and/or the property owner. All costs and expenses of removal shall be the obligation of the owner of the sign and/or the owner of the property where the sign is erected and the City may proceed to collect said costs and expenses in any method prescribed by law which may include citations for non-compliance.
(Ord. 19-2. Passed 3-21-19.)