A. Findings, Purpose and Intent:
1. Findings. The City Council hereby finds as follows:
a. Exterior signs have a substantial impact on the character and quality of the environment.
b. Signs provide an important medium through which individuals may convey a variety of messages.
c. Signs can create public safety hazards, aesthetic concerns and detriments to property values, that threaten the public health, safety, or welfare.
d. The regulation of signs within the city has had a positive impact on traffic safety and the appearance of the community.
e. The City Code includes the regulation of signs in an effort to provide an adequate means of expression and to promote the economic viability of the business community, while protecting the City and its citizens from a proliferation of signs of a type, size, location and character that would adversely impact upon the aesthetics of the community and threaten the health, safety and welfare of the community. The regulations of the physical characteristics of signs within the City have had a positive impact on traffic safety and the appearance of the community.
2. Purpose and Intent. It is not the purpose of this Title to regulate the message displayed on any sign; nor is it the purpose of this Title to regulate any building design or any display not defined as a sign, or any sign which cannot be viewed from outside a building. The purpose of this chapter is to:
a. Regulate the number, location, size, type, illumination and other physical characteristics of signs within the City in order to promote the public health, safety and welfare.
b. Maintain, enhance and improve the aesthetic environment of the City by preventing visual clutter that is harmful to the appearance of the community.
3. Improve the visual appearance of the City while providing for effective means of communication, consistent with constitutional guarantees and the City's goals of public safety and aesthetics. It is the intent of the chapter to authorize the use of signs which:
a. Allow a wide variety of sign types in commercial zones, and a more limited variety of signs in other zones, subject to the standards set forth in this Section.
b. Prohibit signs whose location, size, type, illumination or other physical characteristics negatively affect the environment and where the communication can be accomplished by means having a lesser impact on the environment, community aesthetics, and the public health, safety and welfare.
c. Eliminate confusing, distracting, or dangerous signs that interfere with vehicular traffic.
d. Promote and encourage commerce.
e. Provide fair and equal treatment of signage.
B. Diagrams. The inclusion of diagrams in this text is for illustrative purposes only. Where a diagram conflicts with the written text, the text shall prevail.
C. Substitution.
1. The owner of any sign that is otherwise allowed by this article may substitute noncommercial speech in lieu of any other commercial speech or noncommercial speech. This substitution of copy may be made without any additional approval or permitting.
2. The purpose of this "substitution" provision is to prevent any inadvertent favoring of commercial speech over noncommercial speech or favoring of any particular noncommercial speech over any other noncommercial speech. This provision prevails over any more specific provision to the contrary. (Ord. 1082, 5-1-2024)
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