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(a) Definitions. In this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) CONSTRUCTION means major activity involving on-site excavation, fabrication, erection, alteration, repair, or demolition that materially alters or restricts access to a premise.
(2) DIRECTOR means the director of transportation of the city or the director's designated representative, including but not limited to the city's traffic engineer.
(3) ERECT means erect or maintain.
(4) OPERATOR means a person who causes a use or business to function or puts or keeps a use or business in operation. A person need not have an ownership interest in a use or business to be an “operator” of the use or business for purposes of this section.
(5) OWNER includes any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant, tenant by the entirety, or lessee.
(6) SIGN means a sign authorized to be erected or maintained under this section.
(7) STREET means a street more than 85 feet in width, including frontage roads, if applicable. “Frontage Road” means a frontage, access, or service road for a freeway or tollway.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the city in order to lessen the congestion in the streets; to improve communications efficiency by allowing businesses to identify themselves and by helping customers to locate these businesses; to promote the safety of persons and property by reducing the confusion created by street construction; and to preserve landscape quality by imposing uniform standards. This section is not intended to apply to temporary minor repairs to streets.
(c) Authority to erect. In addition to any other signs permitted under this chapter, up to two detached premise signs may be erected on a premise if:
(1) the premise contains at least one main use other than a single family or duplex use;
(2) the premise has frontage along that portion of a street under construction as defined in Subsection (a); and
(3) the director has given written notice in accordance with Subsection (d).
(d) Notice required to be given by the director. Whenever the director determines that construction of a street, as defined in this section, is imminent, the director shall serve a written notice for the purpose of authorizing the erection of signs in accordance with this section. The written notice may be hand-delivered, sent by mail, or published in the official newspaper of the city. In order to validly authorize a sign under this section, the notice must:
(1) contain a reference to or copy of this section;
(2) describe with specificity the portion of the street that is or will be under construction;
(3) contain estimated commencement and completion dates for the construction; and
(4) contain a statement that no sign may be erected or maintained on a premise:
(A) more than five days before the estimated construction commencement date stated in the notice; or
(B) more than five days after the estimated construction completion date stated in the notice.
(e) Time period when sign authorized. This section only authorizes signs to be placed on property adjacent to that portion of a street described in the notice given pursuant to Subsection (d) during the time period beginning five days before the estimated construction commencement date stated in the notice and ending five days after the estimated construction completion date stated in the notice. No sign may be erected or maintained on a premise:
(1) more than five days before the estimated construction commencement date stated in the notice; or
(2) more than five days after the estimated construction completion date stated in the notice.
The director may change the time period for erecting and maintaining signs under this section at any time by giving a new notice in accordance with Subsection (d).
(f) Physical requirements for sign. All signs must comply with the following paragraphs:
(1) No more than two signs may be erected on a premise. No more than one sign may be erected at any motor vehicle entrance to a premise.
(2) No setback is required for a sign; however, no sign may be located in a public right-of-way. If a sign is placed in a visibility triangle as defined in Section 51A-4.602(d), it shall be a defense to prosecution under that section that the sign does not constitute a traffic hazard.
(3) The sign must be visible from and oriented towards the street under construction and have an arrow that directs motorists to a motor vehicle entrance to the premise.
(4) The sign must be a square, with dimensions of four feet by four feet. It must have a 3- inch border of white reflective sheeting or paint and a reflective blue background. The text of the sign must consist of reflective white characters. (Note: It is intended that the requirements of this paragraph be strictly and precisely complied with.)
(5) No sign may exceed eight feet in height.
(6) No sign may be a portable sign unless the director determines that the sign does not constitute a safety hazard.
(g) Criminal responsibility. If a sign violates this section and is not otherwise authorized under the Dallas City Code, a person is criminally responsible for a sign unlawfully erected or maintained if the person:
(1) erects or maintains the sign;
(2) is an owner or operator of a use or business to which the sign refers; or
(3) owns part or all of the land on which the sign is located.
(h) City may remove signs. The City of Dallas may remove any sign without liability if the director determines that the sign constitutes a safety hazard, or if the sign does not comply with this section; however, the City shall not be liable for failure to remove a sign. (Ord. Nos. 20728; 20927; 25047; 28424; 30239; 30654)
(a) The building official may authorize the dissolution of common boundary lines between lots for the limited purpose of allowing those lots to be considered one premise for the erection of detached signs, provided that a written agreement is executed in accordance with this section on a form provided by the city.
(b) The agreement must:
(1) contain legal descriptions of the properties sharing the common boundary line(s);
(2) set forth adequate consideration between the parties;
(3) state that all parties agree that the properties sharing the common boundary line(s) may be collectively treated as one lot for the limited purpose of erecting detached signs;
(4) state that the dissolution of the common boundary line(s) described in the agreement is only for the limited purpose of allowing the erection of detached signs, and that actual lines of property ownership are not affected;
(5) state that it constitutes a covenant running with the land with respect to all properties sharing the common boundary line(s);
(6) state that all parties agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the city of Dallas from and against all claims or liabilities arising out of or in connection with the agreement;
(7) state that it shall be governed by the laws of the state of Texas;
(8) state that it may only be amended or terminated by a subsequent written instrument that is:
(A) signed by an owner of property sharing the common boundary line(s) or by a lienholder, other than a taxing entity, that has either an interest in a property sharing the common boundary line(s) or an improvement on such a property;
(B) approved by the building official;
(C) approved as to form by the city attorney; and
(D) filed and made a part of the deed records of the county or counties in which the properties are located;
(9) be approved by the building official and be approved as to form by the city attorney;
(10) be signed by all owners of the properties sharing the common boundary line(s);
(11) be signed by all lienholders, other than taxing entities, that have either an interest in the properties sharing the common boundary line(s) or an improvement on those properties; and
(12) be filed and made a part of the deed records of the county or counties in which the properties are located.
(c) The building official shall approve an agreement if all properties governed by the agreement fully comply with the regulations in this article.
(d) An agreement shall not be considered effective until a true and correct copy of the approved agreement is filed in the deed records in accordance with this section and two file-marked copies of the agreement are filed with the building official.
(e) An agreement may only be amended or terminated by a written instrument that is executed in accordance with this subsection on a form provided by the city. The instrument must be:
(1) signed by an owner of property sharing the common boundary line(s) or by a lienholder, other than a taxing entity, that has either an interest in a property sharing the common boundary line(s) or an improvement on such a property;
(2) approved by the building official;
(3) approved as to form by the city attorney; and
(4) filed and made a part of the deed records of the county or counties in which the properties are located.
The building official shall approve an instrument amending or terminating an agreement if all properties governed by the agreement fully comply with the regulations in this article. The amending or terminating instrument shall not be considered effective until it is filed in the deed records in accordance with this subsection and two file-marked copies are filed with the building official.
(f) No detached non-premise sign may be erected or maintained on a property that is described in an agreement executed in accordance with this section. (Ord. 21797)
(a) In this section, CITY KIOSK means a multi-sided structure for the display of premise signs, non-premise signs, informational signs, or way-finding maps pursuant to a city-approved kiosk program.
(b) City kiosks may be located in any part of the city authorized by the city-approved kiosk program, including all special provision sign districts, except that city kiosks may not be located in the Victory Sign District (including the “TXU tract” generally bounded by the Victory Sign District on the north, east, and south and bounded by I-35 on the west) or the West Village Sign District. City kiosks in special provision sign districts are not required to comply with the provisions of the special provision sign district, but must comply with the provisions of the city-approved kiosk program. Kiosks in special provision sign districts that are not part of the city-approved kiosk program remain subject to the provisions of the special provision sign district.
(c) Nothing in this article shall be construed to regulate the display of signs on city kiosks, except that city kiosks must comply with the city-approved kiosk program. (Ord. 26082)
(a) In this section, ANIMAL SHELTER SIGN means a sign located on the same lot as a city-operated animal shelter and used for the display of premise and non-premise messages.
(b) Except as provided in this section, an animal shelter sign must comply with this article.
(c) The animal shelter sign:
(1) may not be a Highway Beautification Act (HBA) sign;
(2) may not exceed 50 feet in height measured from grade;
(3) must be located at least 1,500 feet from a residential district;
(4) may not have an effective area in excess of 936 square feet;
(5) must have at least one static panel with a minimum effective area of 128 square feet that identifies the animal shelter; and
(6) must have a changeable message portion of the sign that uses LED/LCD technology with a maximum effective area of 672 square feet. The message or picture on the changeable message portion of the sign may not change more than once every eight seconds. At least 15 percent of the advertising time during each advertising cycle on the changeable message portion of the sign must display photos of animals available for adoption at the animal shelter or provide information about events being held or services being offered at the animal shelter.
(d) An animal shelter sign may not be relocated to another premise. (Ord. 27097)
(a) Effective area. The effective area of digital display may not exceed 50 square feet or 50 percent of the total effective area of the sign as allowed in the provisions for the respective zoning district, whichever is greater.
(b) Display.
(1) All digital displays signs must automatically adjust the sign brightness so that the brightness level of the sign is no more than 0.3 footcandles over ambient light conditions at a distance that is equal to the square root of the effective area multiplied by 100 from the sign. A digital display sign must be equipped with both a dimmer control and a photocell that automatically adjusts the display's intensity according to natural ambient light conditions.
(2) A digital display may not increase the light level on a lot in a residential district over ambient conditions without the digital display, measured in footcandles at the point closest to the sign that is five feet inside the residential lot and five feet above the ground.
(3) Before the issuance of a digital display sign permit, the applicant shall provide written certification from the sign manufacturer that:
(A) the light intensity has been factory programmed to comply with the maximum brightness and dimming standards in this subsection; and
(B) the light intensity is protected from end-user manipulation.
(c) Change of message. Changes of message must comply with the following:
(1) Each message must be displayed for a minimum of 20 seconds in business zoning districts and 20 minutes in non-business zoning districts.
(2) Changes of message must be accomplished within two seconds.
(3) Changes of message must occur simultaneously on the entire sign face.
(4) No flashing, dimming, or brightening of message is permitted except to accommodate changes of message.
(d) Compliance. All nonconforming digital display premise signs must come into compliance with Paragraphs (b)(1)-(2) and Subsection (c) by August 26, 2016. The owner of a digital display premise sign may appeal to the board of adjustment for a later compliance date at any time up to the compliance date in this subsection if the owner will not be able to recover his investment in the sign (up to the date of nonconformance) by the compliance date in this subsection. The fee for the appeal of the compliance date is the same as the fee for a nonresidential special exception before the board of adjustment as set forth in Chapter 51A. (Ord. 29839)
The provisions of this division apply to all signs in business zoning districts, except that attached signs within 100 feet of either private property in a non-business zoning district or a public park of more than one acre shall be governed by the provisions of Division 51A-7.400 of this article. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 20007; 20379; 25786)
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