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(a) The city council may expressly authorize one or more non-premise signs in:
(1) all special provision sign districts created on or before October 14, 1999; and
(2) any special provision sign district created after that date if:
(A) the district has an area of at least 50 acres; and
(B) the signs are located in or within one mile of the central business district.
(b) The city council may expressly authorize one or more non-premise athletic field signs in any special provision sign district, regardless of the size or location of the district.
(c) A minimum of 30 percent of the effective area of a detached HBA sign that exceeds 100 square feet in effective area must identify activities conducted or premises located in the special provision sign district. (Ord. 24232)
Without changing the definition of this article, or altering its basic structure, the modified rules for special provision sign districts may:
(1) impose sign restrictions which are in addition to, or more stringent than those provided for elsewhere in this article; and
(2) waive certain restrictions, or establish restrictions more lenient than those provided for elsewhere in this article. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 24232)
(a) There is hereby created a committee to be known as the special sign district advisory committee, hereinafter called the “committee”, composed of five members appointed by the city plan commission. The committee shall be appointed within 15 days following the effective date of the establishment of the first special provision sign district created pursuant to the provisions of Division 51A-7.500 of this article. The members of the committee shall include one architect, one graphic designer, and one businessman associated with the sign industry. The city plan commission is authorized to solicit a list of nominees from any trade or professional association the membership of which has special knowledge of or interest in the design, construction, and placement of signs or urban planning and design. Appointments to the committee shall be for a term of two years ending on September 1 of each odd-numbered year and the members shall serve without compensation. The commission shall designate a chairman and vice-chairman from the members. The commission may appoint up to three alternate members to the committee who serve in the absence of one or more regular members when requested to do so by the chairperson or by the city manager. The alternate members serve for the same period and are subject to removal the same as regular members. The commission shall fill vacancies occurring in the alternate membership the same as in the regular membership.
(b) The committee shall meet at least once each month with additional meetings upon call by the committee chairman or a simple majority of the committee members. A simple majority of members present shall constitute a quorum and issues shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the members present. The department shall furnish staff support to the committee.
(c) The function of the committee shall be to familiarize itself thoroughly with the character, special conditions, and economics of all special provision sign districts as provided in Section 51A-7.503 of this article. In addition, the committee shall, upon request, provide guidance, advice and assistance to any applicant for a sign permit in a special provision sign district.
(d) Nothing in this article shall be construed to affect or modify the authority of any committee or commission whose duty it is to review permits for changes to the exterior of buildings in a special purpose district. Such committee or commission shall continue to review said permits using the standards and procedures established for that special purpose district.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the city council from creating a separate procedure for allowing a separate committee to function as or in lieu of the sign district advisory committee for a particular special provision sign district. Any such separate procedure or separate committee must be established as part of the ordinance creating the special provision sign district or as part of an amendment thereto. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 20345; 20927; 24232; 25047; 28073)
Unless otherwise provided as part of the ordinance creating a special provision sign district or as part of an amendment thereto, the following permit procedures apply:
(1) When required. Except when erecting a sign in a historic overlay district, in which case a certificate of appropriateness must be obtained in accordance with Section 51A-4.501(b), no sign permit may be issued in a special provision sign district to any applicant unless the application has first been reviewed by the director and a certificate of appropriateness has been issued in accordance with this section.
(2) Application. When applying for a sign permit in a special provision sign district, the applicant shall submit an application to the building official. After determining that the proposed sign conforms with the other sections of the code, the building official shall forward a copy of the application to the director within five working days of its receipt. The applicant shall provide the building official, the director, and the committee with specific information in the form of perspectives, renderings, photographs, models, or other representations sufficient to show the nature of the proposed sign and its effect on the immediate premises. Any applicant may request a meeting with the director or the committee before submitting an application and may consult with the director or the committee during the review of the permit application. Every applicant is entitled to appear before the committee and to be present when any vote is taken.
(3) Determination of procedure. Upon receipt of an application, the director shall determine whether it is to be reviewed under the director procedure or the committee procedure. The proposed sign must be reviewed under the director procedure if it:
(A) has an effective area less than 50 square feet;
(B) is a premise sign;
(C) does not contain any changeable message or flashing or blinking lights;
(D) has a setback of at least 10 feet;
(E) is not located within a historic overlay district;
(F) does not project more than 18 inches over public right-of-way if it is an attached sign;
(G) has an effective area of less than 15 percent of the facade of the building to which the sign is attached if the sign is an attached sign; and
(H) does not exceed 25 feet in height if the sign is a detached sign.
If the proposed sign does not meet all of the above requirements, it must be reviewed under the committee procedure.
(4) Director procedure.
(A) Decision by the director. If the director determines that the sign must be reviewed under the director procedure, the director shall review the application and approve or deny it within 10 days of its receipt.
(B) Appeals. Any interested person may appeal the decision of the director by submitting a written request for appeal to him or her within 10 days of the decision. The appeal starts the committee procedure.
(5) Committee procedure.
(A) Decision by the committee. If the director determines that the sign must be reviewed under the committee procedure or that his or her decision has been appealed, he or she shall forward the application to the committee for review.
(B) Factors the committee shall consider. In reviewing an application, the committee shall first consider whether the applicant has submitted sufficient information for the committee to make an informed decision. If the committee finds the proposed sign to be consistent with the special character of the special provision sign district, the committee shall make a recommendation of approval to the city plan commission. The committee shall consider the proposed sign in terms of its appropriateness to the special provision sign district with particular attention to the effect of the proposed sign upon the economic structure of the special provision sign district and the effect of the sign upon adjacent and surrounding premises without regard to any consideration of the message conveyed by the sign. After consideration of these factors, the committee shall recommend approval or denial of the application and forward that recommendation to the city plan commission.
(6) Decision by the commission. Upon receipt of a recommendation by the committee, the commission shall hold a public hearing to consider the application. At least 10 days before the hearing, notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing, the name of the applicant, and the location of the proposed sign must be published in the official newspaper of the city and the building official shall serve, by hand-delivery or mail, a written notice to the applicant that contains a reference to this section, and the date, time, and location of this hearing. A notice sent by mail is served by depositing it properly addressed and postage paid in the United States mail. In addition, if the application is for a detached sign or for an attached sign that has more than 100 square feet of effective area, the applicant must post the required number of notification signs in accordance with Section 51A-1.106. In making its decision, the commission shall consider the same factors that were required to be considered by the committee in making its recommendation. If the commission approves the application, it shall forward a certificate of appropriateness to the building official within 15 days after its approval. If the commission denies the application, it shall so inform the building official in writing. Upon receipt of the written denial, the building official shall so advise the applicant within five working days of the date of receipt of the written notice.
(7) Authority of building official not affected. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect or modify the authority of the building official to refuse to grant a sign permit in any case in which the proposed sign does not conform to specific provisions of height, effective area, setback, or similar restrictions established in this article or the modified restrictions applicable to the special provision sign district, or to the structural requirements of the building code or other codes which the building official is required by law to enforce.
(8) Action required within 60 days. If no action has been taken by the city within 60 days of the receipt of the application by the building official, a certificate of appropriateness shall be deemed issued and the building official shall so advise the applicant.
(9) Change in application. No change may be made in any permit application subsequent to action by the city without resubmittal to the director and approval of the resubmitted application by following the procedures in this section.
(10) Appeal to council. An applicant may appeal a denial of a certificate of appropriateness by the commission to the city council within 60 days of the date of the decision by the commission.
(11) Criminal responsibility. A person commits an offense if he or she erects or maintains a sign in a special provision sign district without first obtaining a certificate of appropriateness expressly authorizing the sign as required by this article. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 20949; 20962; 21402; 22425; 24163; 24232; 30892)
The city council may establish a special provision sign district for a limited time. At the end of this period, the special provision sign district, and its provisions regulating signs, shall be discontinued, unless renewed for another limited period in accordance with the procedure established in Section 51A-7.502. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 24232)
(a) Purpose. This section allows persons to erect and maintain temporary signs within special provision sign districts while their applications for permanent signs in those districts are pending. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a special provision sign district from having a separate procedure for obtaining a temporary sign permit.
(b) Procedures to obtain permit.
(1) In general. Notwithstanding Section 51A-7.505, an applicant for a sign permit in a special provision sign district may apply for a permit to erect a temporary sign in accordance with this section. The permit must be obtained before erecting or maintaining the sign.
(2) Application for permit. An application for a permit must be filed with the building official on a form provided by the city. Each application must comply with the requirements of the Dallas Building Code.
(3) Requirements. The building official shall deny the application unless the proposed temporary sign meets all of the following requirements. The sign must:
(A) comply with all provisions of the code, as amended, except for Section 51A-7.505;
(B) be an attached sign;
(C) be a premise sign;
(D) be constructed of cloth, canvas, light fabric, or nylon;
(E) not be an illuminated sign;
(F) not have dimensions that exceed the dimensions of the sign for which the applicant proposes to obtain a certificate of appropriateness; and
(G) not be the same sign for which the applicant proposes to obtain a certificate of appropriateness.
(4) Decision of the building official.
(A) Timing. The building official shall make a decision regarding the application within five working days after it is filed. If the applicant has not provided all the information required by this section, then the five-day period does not begin until the required information is provided.
(B) Failure to act. If the building official fails to make a decision regarding the application within five working days after it is filed, it is approved subject to compliance with all applicable city ordinances.
(C) Form of decision. The decision must take one of the following three forms:
(i) Approval, no conditions.
(ii) Approval, subject to conditions noted.
(iii) Denial.
(D) Approval with no conditions. If there are no grounds for denying the application, the building official shall approve it with no conditions.
(E) Approval subject to conditions noted. As an alternative to denial of the application, the building official may approve it subject to conditions noted if compliance with all conditions will eliminate what would otherwise constitute grounds for denial. If he or she approves it subject to conditions noted, he or she shall state in writing the specific requirements to be met before it is approved.
(F) Denial.
(i) Grounds for denial. The building official shall deny the application if it does not comply with all of the requirements of this section or contain all required information.
(ii) Statement of reasons. If the building official denies the application, he or she shall state in writing the specific reasons for denial.
(G) Notice of decision. The building official shall give written notice to the applicant of his or her decision regarding the application. Notice is given either by hand-delivery or by depositing the notice properly addressed and postage paid in the United States mail. If the notice is mailed, it must be sent to the address shown on the application.
(c) Revocation of permit. The building official shall revoke the permit if he or she determines that the permittee has:
(1) failed to comply with any provision of the code, as amended, except for Section 51A-7.505;
(2) made a false statement of material fact on the application; or
(3) erected or maintained a sign that endangers the safety of persons or property and is not otherwise in the public interest.
(d) Expiration of permit. A permit automatically expires 60 days from the date of its issuance.
(e) Permit limit. Once a permit expires or is revoked, no person may apply for another permit for that sign.
(f) Appeals. In considering an appeal from a decision of the building official made in the enforcement of this section, the sole issue before the board of adjustment shall be whether or not the building official erred in his or her decision. The board shall consider the same standards that the building official was required to consider in making the decision on the permit.
(g) Criminal responsibility. If a sign violates this section and is not otherwise authorized by the 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) No representation by the city. The grant of a permit to erect a temporary sign does not mean that an applicant will receive a certificate of appropriateness for any sign. (Ord. Nos. 20954; 24232; 30892)
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