The Department shall issue a permit for signs in accordance with the following provisions.
(A) Commercial/retail/industrial/manufacturing wall and ground signs.
(1) One wall sign and one freestanding ground sign, or freestanding monument sign, are permitted for each commercial/retail/industrial/manufacturing property. These signs shall not exceed 10% of the area of the front face of the building on a property or 100 square feet, whichever is less.
(2) A freestanding ground sign may not exceed a height of 15 feet above the uniform finished grade to the top of the sign face and must clear nine feet to the bottom of the sign face. Freestanding monument signs may not exceed six feet in height from the uniform finished grade to the top of the sign face. Unless more restrictive zoning applies, setbacks of ground signs from property lines shall be at least equal to the height of the sign.
(3) Message boards may be applied to any freestanding ground sign or freestanding monument sign; however, the total area for a message board will reduce the total area of the signage by 50%. Similarly, gasoline service station price signs may be applied; however, the total area for a gasoline price sign will reduce the total area of signage by 50%.
(B) Multiple tenants, commercial/retail/industrial/manufacturing.
(1) One freestanding ground sign may be provided for multiple-tenant buildings in the General Commercial and Light Industrial Zones and shall not exceed one square foot of sign area per one lineal foot of building frontage per tenant. These signs shall not exceed 200 square feet. Each tenant may also apply a wall sign for their business identification on the building to a maximum of 32 square feet.
(2) In addition, multiple-tenant buildings shall be permitted one wall directory sign intended to identify all of the building occupants. The total area of the directory sign shall not exceed 12 square feet, with each tenant limited to one square foot. This sign shall be non-illuminated and shall be mounted on the entrance door or on the wall next to the entrance.
(3) Message boards may not be included as part of the signage on multiple-tenant properties.
(C) Central Business District.
(1) Within the Central Business District, signs are intended to promote the pedestrian scale and to ensure the visual consistency between signs and the historic character of the district. No sign shall be erected in the Central Business District in any manner that will obstruct any architectural details of a building.
(2) One projecting sign may be permitted for each first-floor business within the Central Business District. The projecting sign may be a maximum of 12 square feet in area (each side) and shall be included in the total amount of signs permitted for the subject building. Changeable copy shall not be permitted as a part of projecting signs. Projecting signs must provide a clear distance of nine feet from the sidewalk, driveway or parking lot to the bottom edge of the sign. Projecting signs may extend over abutting sidewalks but shall not extend over public or private roadways or parking areas unless approved by the Department as a part of the sign permit. The leading edge of a projecting sign shall not extend more than four feet from the face of the building that it is attached to. The maximum height of a projecting sign shall be 15 feet from the sidewalk to the highest part of the sign.
(3) Building signs are not permitted above the first floor; however, signs are permitted in the second-story windows, only subject to the provisions of § 152.03(J) of this code.
(D) Marquee, awning and canopy signs.
(1) Marquee, awning and canopy signs may be applied throughout the Central Business District and the Commercial/Retail/Industrial Districts and must be applied over doorways or windows.
(2) Awning signs and awnings shall be limited to three colors, with black and white defined as colors. Awnings with graphics will be considered an awning sign and may not exceed the allowable square footage for signage. Marquee, awning and canopy signs may be substituted, in whole or in part, for permitted wall signs. The total square footage of marquee signs shall be deducted from the total permitted square footage of total wall sign area.
(3) Freestanding ground signs, freestanding monument signs and message boards are not permitted in the Central Business District.
(E) Office wall or ground signs. One wall sign or one ground sign is permitted for each office property. These signs shall not exceed 10% of the area of the front face of the building on the property or 56 square feet, whichever is less. A ground sign may not exceed a height of five feet above the uniform finished grade. Unless more restrictive zoning applies, ground sign setbacks shall be at least equal to the height of the sign.
(F) Sandwich boards.
(1) The village provides businesses an opportunity to provide high-quality, creative signage which expresses the unique character of a business or building and the sales taking place inside the building. Those signs shall be designed and constructed so as to promote and not visually obscure the significant architectural components of a building in the Central Business District only.
(2) The following regulations apply to sandwich boards.
(a) Size. Maximum height shall be three feet. Maximum width shall be two feet.
(b) Location. Sandwich boards shall be placed directly in front of a building or within six inches of the building in which they are intended to serve. One sandwich board sign will be permitted per building. Sandwich boards are only permitted when a five-foot wide path can be maintained on the sidewalk. Where a building does not abut the sidewalk and has grass area available, the sandwich board should be placed behind the sidewalk or behind the right-of-way line of the street.
(c) Hours. Signs may be located on the sidewalk during the hours of operation only. Sandwich boards shall not be left on the sidewalk or outside overnight. Failure to remove a sandwich board will result in confiscation and all legal remedies provided for in § 152.99 of this chapter.
(d) Materials/design. Business owners will be free to design high-quality creations with minimum restrictions, encouraging hand-painted, carved and unique signage on a flat surface. Sandwich board signage is encouraged to be visually consistent with the historic village and is intended to promote the pedestrian scale. Sturdy material, such as finished wood (no plywood), metal or chalkboard, is encouraged. Sandwich boards must be self-supporting, stable and capable of withstanding occasional bumping or strong winds. It is the responsibility of the sign owner to remove the sign during inclement weather. The village accepts no liability for any injury or damage caused by a sidewalk sign, and business owners are required to furnish a general liability insurance naming the village as an additionally named insured, and such must be submitted along with the permit application for a permit.
(e) Illumination. Illumination is prohibited.
(f) Maintenance. All sandwich boards shall be kept in good condition.
(g) Permitting/review. All sandwich boards require annual submission of an application and issuance of a permit and shall require review in the case of a change in business ownership. Application and permit fees are to be established by the Village Council.
(G) Residential neighborhood identification signs.
(1) A residential neighborhood (single-family subdivision, multiple-family housing development and the like) is permitted to have one residential neighborhood identification sign for each entrance street. The signs shall not extend into any public right-of-way. The face of the sign shall not exceed 32 square feet. The area of the structural supporting elements shall not exceed 50% of the area of the message portion of the sign. The height of the sign may not exceed five feet above the uniform finished grade;
(2) A non-dwelling use in a residential area, such as a school, a religious facility, an institutional use, a clubhouse and the like, is permitted to have one ground sign and one wall sign, neither of which shall exceed 32 square feet in area. The area of the structural elements supporting a ground sign shall not exceed 50% of the area of the message portion of the sign. The height of a ground sign may not exceed eight feet above uniform finished grade. The signage may include message boards, but such will reduce the total signage at each site by 50%; and
(3) One on-site sign announcing a home business, boarding home, owner-occupied bed and breakfast establishment, day care facility or funeral home (in R-2 and RM-1 and MA districts only) with a maximum area of six square feet. The sign shall be placed flat against the building, hung from a porch, displayed in a window or placed in the ground parallel to the front of the dwelling within ten feet of the front of the dwelling. Ground signs shall not exceed three feet in height.
(H) Special event signs.
(1) Signs/banners to be used on a temporary basis for a business event or a promotion sponsored by a business organization are permitted 21 days before the event, at a maximum of three like events during a calendar year for any one business (that is, grand opening, sale event, coming soon or special sales signs/banners and the like).
(2) Those signs/banners are subject to the following regulations.
(a) Location. Signs shall be erected only on private property, not in public rights-of-way.
(b) Corner lot signs. Signs cannot be placed in the vision triangle on a corner lot.
(c) Size. Sign shall be not greater than three feet by eight feet, or 24 square feet, and are permitted only in the commercial districts, with those permitted in the residential districts at the discretion of the Department.
(d) Permit. For the first event for the calendar year, the business owner shall apply for, obtain and pay for a sign permit prior to installation. For the second and third events of the year, the business owner shall apply for a permit to be reviewed and approved by the Department within 48 hours. No permit fees will be charged for these events.
(e) Display period. All the signs shall be removed within 48 hours following the event. If the display period after the application is made is less than 21 days, then the display period is reduced accordingly to whatever time remains.
(Prior Code, § 152.04) (Ord. 39, passed 1-19-2010) Penalty, see § 152.99