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(a) While all signs not explicitly exempted are subject to the provisions of this article, and while a permit to erect any sign not so exempted may be applied for if desired, a permit is required only for the following signs:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (b), all signs having an effective area greater than 20 square feet.
(2) All signs having a height in excess of eight feet.
(3) All illuminated signs.
(4) All signs with moving elements.
(5) All signs erected or to be erected in or over any public way.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (b), all signs projecting more than 18 inches from any wall, roof, parapet, or eaves.
(b) Pursuant to Section 216.903 of the Texas Local Government Code, a permit is not required for a sign that contains primarily a political message and is located on private real property with the consent of the property owner unless the sign:
(1) has an effective area greater than 36 feet;
(2) is more than eight feet high;
(3) is illuminated; or
(4) has any moving elements.
In this subsection, the term “private real property” does not include real property subject to an easement or other encumbrance that allows the city to use the property for a public purpose. This subsection does not apply to a sign, including a billboard, that contains primarily a political message on a temporary basis and that is generally available for rent or purchase to carry commercial advertising or other messages that are not primarily political.
(c) Any sign for which a permit is issued shall be inspected after its erection for conformity to the provisions of this article by the division of building inspection. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 25921)
(a) General provisions.
(1) The city council or city plan commission may authorize a hearing to designate an existing sign as an extraordinarily significant sign. Any person may apply for designation of an existing sign as an extraordinarily significant sign. Except for city council or city plan commission authorized hearings, each owner of a proposed extraordinarily significant sign and each owner of property where the proposed extraordinarily significant sign is located must sign the application.
(2) The director shall send written notice of a public hearing on an application to designate an extraordinarily significant sign to all owners of real property lying within 200 feet of the boundary of the area of request.
(4) An owner of an extraordinarily significant sign must ensure that the sign is not structurally dangerous or a fire hazard, and does not cause electrical shocks or other hazardous conditions.
(b) The city plan commission shall review an application to designate an extraordinarily significant sign in accordance with Subsection (c) of this section in a public hearing and shall submit its recommendation to the city council. The city council shall act upon the recommendation of the city plan commission by granting or denying the application subject to the voting requirement in Section 51A-4.701(c)(2)(B) and Section 51A-7.803 of this article.
(c) To qualify for designation as an extraordinarily significant sign, the sign must:
(1) be at least 40 years of age;
(2) possess unique physical design characteristics such as configuration, color, texture, or other unique characteristics; and
(3) be of extraordinary significance to the city, the historic district where it is located, or the historic structure to which it is attached.
(d) In the consideration of Subsection (c)(3) of this section, the following must be evaluated:
(1) the significance of the sign on the basis of the significance of the physical composition or structure of the sign without regard to the significance of the company or other entity which is identified by the sign; and
(2) the importance of the sign in identifying a particular area of the city and the attitude and sentiment of the community concerning the significance of the sign without regard to the significance of the company or other entity which is identified by the sign. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 19557; 20927; 21186; 22738)
It is the declared purpose of this division that, in time, all privately owned signs shall either conform to the provisions of this article or be removed. By the passage of this ordinance and its amendments, no presently illegal sign shall be deemed to have been legalized unless such sign complies with all current standards under the terms of this ordinance and all other ordinances of the city of Dallas. Any sign which does not conform to all provisions of this ordinance shall be a non-conforming sign if it legally existed as a conforming or non-conforming sign under prior ordinances; or an illegal sign if it did not exist as a conforming or non-conforming sign, as the case may be. It is further the intent and declared purpose of this ordinance that this division, and not the provisions of Article IV, shall exclusively govern how non-conforming signs in the city are treated. It is further the intent and declared purpose of this ordinance that no offense committed, and no liability, penalty or forfeiture, either civil or criminal, incurred prior to the time this ordinance was adopted shall be discharged or affected by such passage, but prosecutions and suits for such offenses, liabilities, penalties or forfeitures may be instituted, and causes presently pending may proceed. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 24232)
(a) Signs erected without a permit, either prior to or after the adoption of this article, are illegal signs if a permit was required for its erection according to the law in effect at the time the sign was erected. It shall be unlawful to maintain any illegal sign. It is a defense to prosecution under this subsection if the sign has been made to comply with the provisions of this article so that a permit may be issued.
(b) All signs that were legally erected pursuant to a valid permit or legally maintained and that do not conform to the provisions of this article must be removed or modified if useful life determinations were made and amortization periods were set by the Municipal Board on Sign Control before January 1, 1990.
(c) No person may repair a non-conforming sign if the cost of repair is more than 60 percent of the cost of erecting a new sign of the same type at the same location, unless that sign is brought into conformity with this chapter. No person may repair a non-conforming sign where the effect of such repair shall be to enlarge or increase the structure of the non-conforming sign. For purposes of this section, mono-pole, metal, and wood are each an example of a “type” of sign and the term “repair” does not include maintenance or changes of words or other content on the face of a sign.
(d) The effective area of a detached non-premise sign does not include the sign skirting if no part of the sign message appears on the skirting other than the name of the sign company.
(e) No new electrical or mechanical properties may be added to a non-conforming detached non-premise sign. (For example, a non-illuminated sign may not be converted to an illuminated sign, and a plain billboard may not be converted to a tri-vision type.)
(f) The effective area of a detached non-premise expressway sign does not include extensions of the sign face if:
(1) the extensions do not collectively exceed 20 percent of the original area of the sign face; and
(2) no individual extension exceeds 80 percent of the original length or 50 percent of the original height of the sign face. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 20927; 22113; 23094; 24232)
(a) The board of adjustment may, in specific cases, take the following actions and authorize the following special variances and exceptions with respect to the provisions of this article.
(b) The board of adjustment may waive any filing fee for an appeal under this article when the board finds that payment of the fee would result in substantial financial hardship to the applicant. The applicant may either pay the fee and request reimbursement as part of his appeal or request the matter be placed on the board’s miscellaneous docket for predetermination. If the matter is placed on the miscellaneous docket, the applicant may not file his appeal until the merits of the request for waiver have been determined by the board.
(c) When in its judgment the public convenience and welfare will be substantially served and appropriate use of the neighboring area will not be substantially and permanently injured, the board of adjustment may, in specific cases and subject to appropriate conditions, authorize only the following special variances and exceptions to the regulations established in this article for non-conforming signs legally erected or maintained prior to April 30, 1973:
(1) Reserved.
(2) Permit a variance for detached non-premise signs of up to 20 percent of the setback, effective area, and height requirements of this article.
(3) Permit a variance for detached premise signs of up to 25 percent of the setback, effective area, and height requirements of this article.
(4) Authorize one additional detached sign on a premise in excess of the number permitted by this article.
(5) Authorize up to two additional large letter words on an attached sign in excess of the number permitted by this article.
(6) Permit the following special variances and exceptions for movement control signs when from the evidence presented the board finds them to be necessary to give directions to a business:
(A) Authorize an identification message to be placed on the sign.
(B) Authorize an effective area of up to 4 square feet.
(C) Authorize a height of up to 2-1/2 feet.
(7) Authorize the remodeling, renovation, or alteration of a sign when some non-conforming aspect of the sign is thereby reduced and when the period of time allowed for the owner of the sign to recoup his investment is not thereby extended.
(8) The board of adjustment may also vary any or all other provisions of this article not specified above with respect to premise signs only when the board has made a specific finding from evidence presented that strict compliance will result in substantial financial hardship or inequity to the applicant without sufficient corresponding benefit to the city and its citizens in accomplishing the objectives of this article.
(d) Except as provided in Section 51A-7.703(c) the board of adjustment may, in specific cases and subject to appropriate conditions, authorize only the following special variances and exceptions to the regulations established in this article when the board has made a special finding from the evidence presented that strict compliance with the requirement of this article will result in substantial financial hardship or inequity to the applicant without sufficient corresponding benefit to the city and its citizens in accomplishing the objectives of this article:
(1) Permit a variance for detached premise signs of up to 10 percent of the setback, effective area, and height requirements of this article.
(2) Authorize one additional detached premise sign on a premise in excess of the number permitted by this article.
(3) Authorize up to two additional large letter words on an attached sign in excess of the number permitted by this article.
(4) Authorize signs attached to a window or glass door in a business zoning district to exceed 15 percent of the area of that window or glass door or to be located within the upper two-thirds of that window or glass door if the board finds that the proposed signs do not eliminate visibility into, or out from, the premise.
(A) A sign authorized by this paragraph:
(i) must be made of translucent vinyl or a similar material with at least a 65/35 perforation pattern (a maximum of 65 percent of the area is closed, a minimum of 35 percent of the area is open); and
(ii) may only have images; any text or characters on the sign are limited to 15 percent of the window area and are only permitted in the lower one-third of the window.
(B) A convenience store regulated by Chapter 12B is not eligible for this special exception.
(C) Once a special exception is approved, a business does not need to return to the board of adjustment to change out the images or words on a sign as long as the sign complies with the approved special exception.
(5) Permit the following special variances and exceptions for movement control signs when from the evidence presented the board finds them to be necessary to give directions to a business:
(A) Authorize an identification message to be placed on the sign.
(B) Authorize an effective area of up to 4 square feet.
(C) Authorize a height of up to 2-1/2 feet.
(e) The board of adjustment may hear and decide appeals which allege error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the building inspection division in the enforcement of this article.
(f) The board of adjustment may require a non-conforming sign to be brought into immediate conformity with all current standards of all ordinances of the city of Dallas, or to be removed when from the evidence presented the board finds the sign to be hazardous to the public or to have been abandoned by its owners.
(g) Where a permit was required for a sign’s erection according to the law in effect at the time the sign was erected and where building inspection division finds no record of a permit being issued, the board of adjustment may authorize the issuance of a replacement permit when from the evidence presented the board finds either that a permit was issued or that arrangements were made with a sign company to obtain said permit. The period of time allowed by Section 51A-7.702(b) for the owner to recoup his investment will not be extended by issuance of a replacement permit. (Ord. Nos. 19455; 20927; 28784)
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