(A) Changes to signs. No sign shall be structurally altered, enlarged, relocated, repaired or refaced except in conformity to the provisions herein and until a proper permit if required, has been secured. The maintenance of moveable parts or electrical components of an approved sign shall not be deemed a structural alteration.
(B) Conformance to codes. Any sign hereinafter erected shall conform to the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the State Construction Code, and any other ordinances of the city.
(C) Signs in rights-of-way. No signs other than public signs shall be erected on any public sidewalk or public way, unless specifically authorized by this chapter.
(D) Projections over public ways. Signs projecting over public walkways shall be permitted to do so up to 18 inches at a minimum height of eight feet from grade level to the bottom of the sign. Signs, architectural projections, or sign structures projecting over vehicular access areas shall conform to the minimum height clearance limitations imposed by the city for such structures.
(E) Traffic visibility. No sign or sign structure shall be erected at the intersection of any street in such a manner as to obstruct the free and clear vision, nor at any location if, by its position, shape, or color, it may interfere with or obstruct the view of or be confused with any authorized traffic sign, signal, or device.
(F) Computation of frontage. Frontage shall be determined by the width of the building wall of the space occupied by the business advertised on the side facing the street on which it is addressed. If a premise borders more than one street the sign area(s) for each building wall facing a street shall be computed separately based on the building frontage. The sign area(s) thus calculated shall be permitted to be applied to permitted signs placed on each separate wall.
(G) Maintenance, repair, and removal. Every sign permitted by this chapter shall be kept in good condition and repair. When any sign becomes insecure, in danger of falling, or is otherwise deemed unsafe by the code official, or if any sign shall be unlawfully installed, erected, or maintained in violation of any provision of this chapter, the owner thereof or the person or firm using the sign shall, upon written notice by the code official immediately in the case of immediate danger, and in any case within not more than ten days, make such sign conform to the provisions of this chapter, or shall remove it. If within ten days the order is not complied with, the code official may issue a citation for violation of this section.
(H) Nonconforming signs.
(1) Intention. It is the intention of this section to encourage eventual elimination of signs that, because of the adoption of this chapter, become nonconforming. It is considered as much a subject of health, safety, and welfare as the prohibition of new signs in violation of this section. It is the intention, therefore, to administer this section to realize the removal of illegal, nonconforming signs and to avoid any unreasonable invasion of established private property rights by providing for removal of nonconforming signs.
(2) Continuance. A non conforming sign may be continued but shall be maintained in good condition, and shall not be:
(a) Replaced by another nonconforming sign.
(b) Structurally altered to prolong the life of the sign.
(c) Rebuilt, expanded or substantially added to, changed or reconstructed after damage or destruction if the estimated expense of reconstruction exceeds 50% of the estimated replacement cost.
(3) Removal of nonconforming signs. Any non-conforming sign now or hereafter existing which is not maintained in good condition shall be removed.
(I) Lighting. Internal and external lighting shall be permitted, but the illumination thereof shall not be anything other than a steady, continuously burning bulb or light. The movement, flashing or illusion of flashing, or turning on and off the sign illumination or of any bulb or component part thereof is prohibited. In no case shall any sign illumination cause an increase in the ambient light level at the property line of any adjacent residential-zoned property. No sign shall be illuminated by other than electrical means and electrical devices and wiring shall be installed in accordance with the requirements of the Michigan Electrical Code. All electrically illuminated signs shall be certified as to wiring and devices by the electrical inspector and all wiring and accessory electrical equipment shall conform to the requirements of the Michigan Electrical Code.
(1) Strip lighting. Permanently affixed incandescent, LED, neon or other forms of strip lighting on the interior of any building are permitted when all of the following are adhered to:
(a) LED lights shall be buffered and/or diffused to decrease intensity, and only surrounding the main front facing windows.
(b) LED lights can only be illuminated during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a..m.
(c) LED strip lighting may not exceed 8.0 footcandles beyond the property line.
(J) Measurement of signs.
(1) Sign area.
(a) The sign area shall include the total area within any circle, triangle, rectangle or square, or combination of two shapes which are contiguous to each other, enclosing the extreme limits of the writing, representation, emblem or any similar figure, together with any frame or other material forming an integral part of the display or used to differentiate such sign from the background against which it is placed. In the case of a broken sign, (a sign with open spaces between the letters or insignia) the sign area to be considered for size shall include all air space between the letters or insignia. Where more than one wall sign is used, each sign may be measured individually, using the procedure above, provided the signs are separated by a distance equal to, or greater than, the width of the largest sign. Any back-lit area of a building exterior is considered a sign area.
(b) For signs with two or more faces, the area of all faces shall be included in determining the area of the sign, except that where two such faces are placed back to back and less than 24 inches apart, the area of the sign shall equal the area of one face.
(2) Sign height. The height of the sign is measured from the ground to the highest point of the sign from the ground.
(Ord. 497, passed 2-3-2004; Am. Ord. 523, passed 6-13-2006; Am. Ord. 2011-7, passed 12-13-2011; Am. Ord. 2019-02, passed 10-8-2019; Am. Ord. 2020-28, passed 3-3-2020; Am. Res. 2021-46, passed 4-13-2021; Am. Res. 2024-120b, passed 10-8-2024)