Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, signs, as defined in § 154.004 of this chapter, where permitted, shall comply with the following requirements.
(A) Location. No sign shall be placed in or extended over any public right-of-way in any district, except the C-3 Downtown Business District. Signs in the street right-of-way shall be eight feet above grade line. In no case shall signs create any traffic sight hazards.
(1) Pre-existing signs which violate required setbacks and/or encroachment of rights-of-way shall be considered as non-conforming structures.
(2) No sign shall be erected to project above the roof or parapet wall line of any building, except by conditional use permit.
(3) Wall signs integral with, painted on or attached flat against the face of the building or structure shall not extend more than 24 inches from the structure.
(4) No temporary sign shall be attached to a light standard or the supporting pylon of a freestanding sign.
(B) Measuring. For multi-faced signs, each display face shall be measured except in the case of two-sided signs that are identical on both sides.
(C) Traffic hazard. No sign shall be erected near or at any intersection of any streets in a manner so as to obstruct free and clear vision, or at any location where by reason of position, shape or color, it may interfere with, obstruct the view of or be confused with any authorized traffic sign, signal or device.
(D) Marquees, canopies and awnings. Signs attached to a marquee shall not extend beyond the fascia or vertical surface of the marquee. No sign or sign structure, except as mentioned above, shall be placed on the roof of a marquee. No advertising shall be placed on any awning or canopy, except the name of the owner and/or business conducted on the premises.
(E) Freestanding signs. Freestanding signs shall not exceed 27 feet in height above the ground on which they rest. No part of any sign may be within five feet of any property line.
(F) Roof signs. Roof-mounted signs are not permitted.
(G) Wall signs. Wall signs placed or painted on the exterior walls of buildings shall not extend beyond 24 inches of the wall surface. Wall signs attached to and projecting from the exterior walls of buildings shall not extend beyond 24 inches of the wall surface and shall not cover more than 15% of that business’s wall.
(H) Illumination. The light from any illuminated sign or from any light source, including interior of a building, shall be so shaded, shielded or directed that the light intensity of brightness shall not adversely affect surrounding or facing residential districts, or adversely affect safe vision of operators of vehicles moving on public or private roads, highways or parking areas. Light shall not shine or reflect on or into residential structures.
(I) Maintenance of signs. All signs shall be kept in good repair and avoid a weather condition resulting in illegibility, missing parts, words and the like.
(J) Tenant lists on freestanding signs. If a freestanding business center sign lists the names of three or more individual tenants:
(1) The total area of the business center name, plus tenants’ names, cannot exceed the total allowable area of a freestanding sign;
(2) Tenants’ names must be displayed in the same typeface, method of illumination and method of display (panel vs. individual letters) as one another;
(3) The business center name and the tenants’ names must be produced in the same materials, method of illumination and method of display (panel vs. individual letters) as one another; and
(4) Tenants’ names must be arranged in a rectangular grouping which does not extend horizontally beyond the edges of the business center name area.
(K) Major tenant logos on a freestanding sign. If a business center wishes to display the logotypes of its major tenant(s) on its freestanding business center identification sign(s):
(1) The total area of the various elements of the freestanding sign may not exceed the total allowable area of a freestanding sign;
(2) No more than two tenants may be displayed in this manner on each freestanding business center identification sign;
(3) The tenant logotypes and business center name (if included) shall be displayed on a single sign structure; and
(4) The tenant signs shall be designed and arranged to appear as an integrated whole. Namely, the proportions of the two signs shall be approximately equal; the materials, method of illumination and method of display (individual letters vs. panel) should be the same; and both signs should be arranged within a rectangular area.
(L) Grouping small wall signs. When a number of small wall signs are grouped together, such as at the entrance of an interior mini-mall, those signs must be arranged in a framework or common display system which gives the impression of a single, larger sign. Type styles may differ but the method of construction and illumination and the display format (individual letters vs. panel) must be the same.
(M) Other identification signs in business centers.
(1) If a canopy or other building overhang is used, each business may have an under-canopy identification sign not exceeding four square feet.
(2) Each business may have an identification sign on its door not exceeding three square feet.
(N) Gas station canopy signs. Signage on canopies shall be limited to 10% of the total square footage of the canopy (upper perimeter of the canopy structure). In no case shall the total square footage of the canopy and/or total gas station signage exceed 250 square feet.
(O) Dynamic signs. Dynamic signs may be permitted as follows.
(1) Dynamic signs are allowed as conditional uses in the C-1 Zoning District.
(2) Dynamic signs are allowed in the C-2, I-1, I-2, C-4, C-5, GT and I/C Zoning Districts and in the C-3 Zoning District if they are located outside of the Main Street Area District as described in § 154.142(E).
(3) Dynamic displays may occupy no more than 66% of the sign area.
(4) Dynamic signs are not allowed in the R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5 districts or in the Main Street Area District of the C-3 Zoning District, except as described in division (O)(14) below.
(5) There shall be no dynamic signs within 100 feet of a residential zoning district.
(6) There shall be no dynamic signs in the front setback area within 20 feet of a street intersection (as measured from intersecting right-of-way lines), except where lighting for such sign is indirect or diffused and in no way constitutes a traffic hazard.
(7) No dynamic sign may be erected that, by reason of position, shape, movement or color interferes with the proper functioning of a traffic sign, signal or which otherwise constitutes a traffic hazard.
(8) Dynamic signs shall not cause direct glare, nor become a distraction.
(9) Dynamic displays shall have a minimum display or loop time of six seconds before the display changes.
(10) A display of time, date or temperature must remain for at least the minimal allowable display time for the district in which it is located before changing to a different display, but the time, date or temperature information itself may change no more often than once every three seconds.
(11) The lamp wattage and luminance level in candelas per square meter (Nits) shall be provided at the time of permit application.
(12) Dynamic signs shall not exceed 5,000 Nits between the hours of civil sunrise and civil sunset and shall not exceed 500 Nits between the hours of civil sunset and civil sunrise.
(13) Dynamic displays must be designed and equipped to freeze the device in one position if a malfunction occurs. The displays must also be equipped with a means to immediately discontinue the display if it malfunctions, and the sign owner must immediately stop the dynamic display when notified by the city that it is not complying with the standards of this section.
(14) Dynamic signs which inform the public of time and/or temperature, as well as messages that consist of public announcements and the like, of a non-advertising nature are allowed in the R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-5 Zoning Districts. The dynamic signs in these districts shall be scrolling in nature with no flashing or other similar special effects. These signs shall have a black background with a singular color of lettering and/or numerics. The characters used shall be standard letters and numbers only.
(2004 Code, § 154.136) (Ord. 01-296, passed 8-14-2001; Ord. 10-0661, passed 10-12-2010; Ord. 17-776, passed 9-12-2017) Penalty, see § 154.999