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)