A. All business and identification signs shall be deemed accessory uses and all advertising signs shall be deemed non-accessory uses.
B. No sign shall be erected, maintained, or continued unless it is in full compliance with the regulations for the zone in which it is located, all applicable provisions and regulations of this appendix or any other applicable laws, codes or ordinances of the City Council. The City Inspector/Zoning Administrator shall have the duty and authority to remove, or cause to have removed any sign not in full compliance with all applicable provisions and regulations of this appendix or any other applicable laws, codes, or ordinances of the City Council when the owner or agent has failed to comply within the time specified by the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator to make that sign comply. The owner or agent shall bear full costs of such removal and shall be billed accordingly.
C. No signs shall be erected, maintained, replaced, relocated, repaired, or restored within a distance of 660 feet of the right-of-way of any interstate highways; limited access highway or turnpike, except as provided for in KRS 177.830 through 177.890 and approved of by the Kentucky Department of Transportation, Bureau of Highways, District Office Number 6, as amended.
D. 1. Time schedule for compliance of sign regulations: Compliance with the provisions of this subchapter shall be according to the following time schedule:
a. All new signs shall comply when erected.
b. All existing signs, including signs painted on a building, shall be required to conform to the requirements of this appendix within six consecutive calendar months after the effective date of this appendix.
2. All signs becoming nonconforming due to this appendix shall be registered by owner or agent with the Zoning Administrator within six (6) consecutive calendar months of the effective date of this appendix. The owner or agent of any sign legally erected but which has become nonconforming because of this appendix and not registered within the prescribed time, shall be dealt with as specified in § 16.9 of this appendix.
E. No sign constituting a nuisance, because of light, glare, focus, noise, animation, flashing, intensity of illumination as to unduly disturb the use of surrounding properties, as determined by the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator, or causing a traffic hazard, shall be erected, maintained, or continued in any zone.
F. No radio, phonograph, tape recorder, whistle, bell, gong, siren, or other sound or noise-making or transmitting device or instrument shall be allowed, permitted, or continued in connection with any sign or may it be used separately for advertising purposes in any zone, except for temporary signs erected for special events or holidays.
G. No sign shall be erected, maintained, or continued which constricts the flow of air through any window or door.
H. No sign shall be erected, maintained, or continued which is misleading, fraudulent, obscene, immoral, indecent, or unsightly in character as determined by the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator.
I. No advertising sign, except those of a governmental entity, shall be erected, maintained, or continued unless the following provision is complied with; and said provisions shall go into effect 90 consecutive calendar days after the effective date of this appendix. The name of the company or person owning, maintaining, or erecting said sign is plainly displayed thereon.
J. No sign shall be erected, maintained, or continued over or into any street, public way or alley right-of-way, unless specifically provided for within this appendix.
K. It shall be unlawful and a violation of this appendix for any person to fasten, place, paint or attach in any way: any sign, handbill, poster, advertisement, or notice of any kind, or cause the same to be done in or upon any curbstone, lamp post, telephone pole, telegraph pole, electric light or power pole, hydrant, bridge, culvert, public drinking fountain, public trash container, courtesy benches, rest station building, tree, or in or upon any portion of any public sidewalk, street or sign, except as specifically permitted within this appendix.
L. No sign shall be erected, maintained or continued upon the inside of a curve of a street which causes any interference to sight distance in the opinion of the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator.
M. No sign shall be erected, maintained or continued displaying flashing or intermittent lights, or lights, or lights of changing degrees of intensity with changes alternating on not less than a five second cycle.
N. No sign shall be erected, maintained or continued in any zone which does not comply fully with § 13.0 except as specifically permitted within this appendix.
O. Except as herein provided, signs shall be permanently attached to the ground or on the building, which the sign is to serve. Signs located on portable type vehicles shall not be permitted, or continued in any zone, except the CO Zone.
P. No sign shall be erected, maintained, or continued in any zone except as provided for in division D., unless the sign complies with all of the following regulations:
1. Is erected and maintained to advertise a use specifically permitted in the zone in which the sign is located, or for a nonconforming use subject to the limitations contained in § 9.12.E., of this appendix regarding nonconforming uses;
2. Is clearly incidental, customary to, and commonly associated with the operation of the use being advertised;
3. Is established and controlled under and by the same ownership as the use being advertised;
4. Is limited in location to the premises on which the use being advertised is located;
5. Is limited in subject matter to the name, design, picture or phone number and address of owner, operator, builder, sales agent, managing agent, lessor, lessee, of the premises or of the activities (including merchandise handled or services rendered) on the premises on which such sign is located and does not include any general commercial advertising unrelated to or extending in substantial degrees beyond the specifically permitted subject; and
6. Compliance with the exemptions listed in § 14.2.
Q. When any sign becomes defective or dangerous as determined by the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator, the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator shall have the power and the authority to remove or cause to have removed such sign when the owner or agent has failed to comply within the time specified by the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator to repair or make the sign safe or has failed to satisfy the Building Department that the sign is not defective or dangerous. The owner or agent of said sign shall bear the bull costs of such removal and shall be billed accordingly. If the Building Department determines that the sign is of possible immediate danger to persons or vehicles, which may be passing nearby, the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator shall place or cause to have place, signs or barriers indicating the danger.
R. Whenever any sign which does not comply with the provisions and regulations of this appendix collapses, burns, or if the sign is removed from its location, except for normal maintenance, the sign shall not be replaced or reconstructed, except in full compliance with all of the provisions and regulations of this appendix.
S. The City Inspector/Zoning Administrator shall have the power and authority to remove or cause to have removed any and all signs which have been determined to be a traffic hazard, when the owner or agent responsible for the maintenance of said sign has failed to eliminate such traffic hazards within two weeks from the date that the written notice is mailed by the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator. The owner or agent shall bear the full costs of such removal and shall be billed accordingly.
T. Except as otherwise specified in this appendix, signs shall be in conformance with the Building Code where applicable and shall be subject to the inspection and approval of the City Inspector/Zoning Administrator.
(Ord. 2017-6, passed 4-4-17)