(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)