(A) Conformance required. No billboard sign shall be erected, placed maintained, converted, enlarged, reconstructed or structurally altered which does not comply with all the regulations established in this subchapter.
(B) Maintenance. For the purposes of this section, maintenance shall mean the routine repairing, restoring or replacing of the sign to its constructed condition with the same type of materials used in the original sign structure and face, or to approved upgraded materials.
(C) Required maintenance for non-conforming signs.
(1) Cleaning and painting of the structure including supports, faces trim, ladders, catwalks, railings and any other structural features and the immediate area around the sign structure.
(2) Changes in advertising messages and content including use of a vinyl overlay or wrap. If structural modifications are required to secure the vinyl overlay or wrap, a sign permit is required and said changes must be approved by the building official.
(3) Faces and trim shall be maintained, replaced or repaired as necessary. The same number of faces, or less shall be maintained and the size of any given face shall not be increased.
(4) Lighting system may be added or replaced on any billboard as long as the lighting complies with § 151.221, requiring shielded, sharp cut-off and downcast lighting fixtures. Existing fixtures may be repaired with like equipment. Changes or additions of lighting fixtures shall require an electrical permit and said changes shall be approved by the permitting agency.
(5) Safety features including ladders, catwalks, safety cables and railings may be replaced, repaired or added. Said safety features shall be designed to conform to accepted industry standards. A sign permit shall be required if safety features are added and said changes must be approved by the building official.
(D) Reconstruction and modification of existing non-conforming outdoor advertising signs. No sign shall be reconstructed or modified except as specified in division (E) below. The following shall constitute a substantial change to a sign and are therefore not considered maintenance or acceptable reconstruction and are herein prohibited:
(1) Any change in the location of the sign;
(2) Any increase in the size or dimension or height of the sign;
(3) The addition of additional face or faces;
(4) An increase in the number of poles supporting the structure; and
(5) An increase in the height of the poles.
(E) Modifications to existing non-conforming outdoor advertising signs. An existing legal or non- conforming sign may be modified or reconstructed as follows:
(1) The structural supports may be replaced with like materials or upgraded to steel;
(2) Any existing sign damaged by any cause, natural or manmade, may be replaced or repaired to original condition, or modified as stated in division (E)(1) above, provided there is no increase in size, height or number of faces. Non-conforming roof-mounted signs that are damaged by any cause in excess of 50% of their replacement value shall be permanently removed;
(3) Message area attachment systems may be changed or updated provided the area of the message surface is not increased; and
(4) A sign required to be moved to a new location because of a local, state or federal project requires approval of the new location by the building official and the relocated sign need not comply with all regulations in force and effect at the time the relocation is approved, except those regulations which effect safety.
(F) Electronic changeable message signs. Electronic changeable message signs, hereinafter known as ECMS, are considered outdoor advertising signs and shall be subject to the following requirements.
(1) For each ECMS face erected, a minimum of two existing sign faces must be permanently removed.
(2) The proposed ECMS must be located where one of the existing structures was removed to meet the two to one ratio (2:1) replacement requirement, or, if at a new location, the ECMS must meet all code requirements pertaining to outdoor advertising signs and meet the two to one ratio (2:1) replacement requirement.
(3) No two ECMS structures may have sign facings erected less than 5,000 feet apart measured from the center of the monopole along a line parallel with the expressway. ECMS structures may be located on either side of the highway; however, each sign must only be visible from one direction of travel and must comply with the 5,000-foot spacing on each side.
(4) The ECMS sign faces shall not be more than 300 square feet in size and shall be no taller than 35 feet.
(5) Each advertisement displayed must remain fixed for at least ten seconds. If there is more than one advertisement per face, then when any advertisement changes, the entire face shall remain fixed for at least ten seconds.
(6) When an advertisement is changed, it must be accomplished within an interval of two seconds or less.
(7) Each ECMS must contain a default mechanism that will freeze the sign in one position if a malfunction occurs.
(G) Regulations for new installations.
(1) Within the total amount of sign area permitted to them, some parcels in the B-2, ML/C-1 and MH districts may elect to devote a portion of their sign budgets to installation of an outdoor advertising sign, subject to the conditions contained in this section.
(2) For installation of new electronic changeable message signs (ECMS) refer to the regulations provided divisions (A) through (E) above.
(a) Eligible properties must be located within 100 feet of the right-of-way line of Highways 30 or 81.
(b) Utilization of this provision does not entitle any parcel to additional permitted sign area and the area of the sign counts against the total sign area permitted the parcel. The outdoor advertising sign shall count as a detached sign for the purpose of calculating the total number of permitted detached signs.
(c) The size of an outdoor advertising sign shall not exceed 300 square feet. The maximum height of such a sign shall be 35 feet.
(d) Where permitted along other settings, outdoor advertising signs shall be separated by 1,000 feet from any other outdoor advertising sign of any size and 300 feet from any other detached sign. Any such outdoor advertising sign shall be separated by 200 feet from any property in a residential zoning district, including RR through R-3 and NTR.
(f) New installations of stacked signs or other installations of two signs facing the same direction on a single structure are prohibited. Double-faced, back-to-back signs are permitted; provided that the angle formed by the sign faces does not exceed 15 degrees. Side-by-side signs are not permitted regardless of which direction they face.
(Ord. 23-09, passed 8-21-2023) Penalty, see § 151.999