No billboards shall be permitted in any zoning district within the city except as follows:
A. Permitted Districts: Billboards shall be considered a permitted principal use within the B-3, B-4, I-1 and I-2 zoning districts along Trunk Highway 52/55 within sections 27 and 34, Twp. 27N, R22W within three hundred fifty feet (350') of the highway right of way centerline.
B. Distance Between Billboards: Billboards shall maintain a minimum spacing of one thousand five hundred feet (1,500') between signs on the same side of the highway and three hundred feet (300') between signs on the opposite side of the highway.
C. Size: Billboards shall not exceed six hundred seventy two (672) square feet in surface area per sign surface. Maximum allowable extensions shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the total sign area.
D. Number Of Surfaces: Billboards shall not contain more than two (2) sign surfaces. Said sign surfaces shall face in opposite directions with an interior angle not to exceed forty five degrees (45°).
E. Height: Billboards shall not exceed forty feet (40') in height as measured from the established grade of the site upon which the billboard is located.
F. Location:
1. Billboards shall be set back a minimum of fifty feet (50') from the edge of the right of way and all property lines.
2. Billboards shall not be closer than five hundred feet (500') from a park, rest area or historic site, one thousand feet (1,000') from schools and churches, and three hundred feet (300') from the A, E or R zoning districts.
G. Site Restrictions: Billboards shall not be placed upon any property upon which a building already exists.
H. Removal: Billboards shall be removed prior to the city approving an administrative subdivision, waiver of plat, or final plat of property upon which the billboard is located, or prior to the city issuing a building permit for the construction of a building or building addition for property upon which the billboard is located. (Ord. 1098, 11-8-2004)
I. Dynamic Display Billboards:
1. Findings, Purpose And Intent: The city council finds it necessary for the promotion and preservation of the health, safety, welfare, and aesthetics of the community that the construction, location, size, conspicuity, brightness, legibility, operational characteristics and maintenance of dynamic display billboards be controlled. Dynamic display billboards have a direct and substantial impact on traffic safety, pedestrian safety, community aesthetics and property values. The city council recognizes that signs provide a guide to the physical environment and as such serve an important function in the community and economy. With respect to dynamic display billboards, including video display billboards, the city council finds that they are highly visible from long distances and at very wide viewing angles both day and night and are designed to catch the eye of persons in their vicinity and hold it for extended periods of time. If left uncontrolled, dynamic display billboards, including video display signs, constitute a serious traffic safety threat. Studies such as "'Dynamic' Signage: Research Related To Driver Distraction And Ordinance Recommendations" by SRF Consulting Group, Inc., June 7, 2007, reveal that electronic signs are highly distracting to drivers and that driver distraction continues to be a significant underlying cause of traffic accidents. The city council intends by this subsection to establish a legal framework for dynamic display billboard regulation in the city. The regulations promulgated in this subsection are intended to facilitate an easy and agreeable communication between people while protecting and promoting the public health, safety, welfare and aesthetics of the community. It is not the purpose or intent of this subsection to prefer or favor commercial messages or speech over noncommercial messages or speech or to discriminate between types of noncommercial speech or the viewpoints represented therein. Rather, the purpose of the dynamic display billboard regulations promulgated in this subsection is:
a. To eliminate potential hazards to motorists and pedestrians using the public streets, sidewalks, and rights of way;
b. To safeguard and enhance property values;
c. To control nuisances;
d. To preserve and improve the appearance of the city through adherence to aesthetic principles, in order to create a community that is attractive to residents and to nonresidents who come to live, visit, work, or trade;
e. To eliminate excessive and confusing sign displays;
f. To encourage signs which by their design are integrated with and harmonious to the surrounding environment and the buildings and sites they occupy; and
g. To promote the public health, safety, and general welfare.
2. Location Of Dynamic Display Billboards: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained within this code, dynamic display billboards may be located only within the billboard overlay district. Dynamic display billboards are prohibited in all zoning districts of the city other than the billboard overlay district. Dynamic display billboards located in the billboard overlay district must comply with all code requirements for permitted dynamic display billboards and for billboards per Section 10-15E-6 of the City Code.
3. Nonconforming Billboards: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained within this code, a legal nonconforming sign or billboard shall not be converted to a dynamic display billboard unless the legal nonconforming sign or billboard is located in the billboard overlay district. A legal nonconforming sign or billboard may be continued through repair, replacement, restoration, maintenance, or improvement but shall not be expanded, enlarged, intensified or moved to a new location. Replacement, reconstruction, or restoration means construction that exactly matches preexisting conditions. Expansion or intensification includes, but is not limited to, replacement of a static display with any type of dynamic display, including a display that consists of rotating, revolving, moving, flashing, blinking, or projecting items, or light bulbs, LED lights, fiber optics, or any other method of technology that allows the sign face to present a series of text, images, or displays. A legal nonconforming sign or billboard may be converted to a dynamic display billboard in the billboard overlay district subject to the requirements of the billboard overlay district performance standards.
4. Billboard Overlay District Performance Standards: The billboard overlay district is hereby established as a separate zoning district within the city. Within the billboard overlay district, dynamic display billboards are permitted subject to the following conditions:
a. No dynamic display billboard shall be erected that, by reason of position, shape, movement or color, interferes with the proper functioning of a traffic signal or which constitutes a traffic hazard.
b. Dynamic display billboards must have minimum display duration of eight (8) seconds. Such display shall contain static messages only; change from one static message to another shall be instantaneous without any special effects, through dissolve or fade transitions, or with the use of another subtle transition technique that does not have the appearance of moving text or images.
c. Dynamic display billboards must be rectangular in shape and all messages must be contained within the billboard frame.
d. All dynamic display billboards shall have ambient light monitors installed as part of the billboard and shall, at all times, allow such monitors to automatically adjust the brightness level of the electronic sign based on light conditions.
e. Dynamic display billboards shall meet the following brightness standards:
(1) No dynamic display may be brighter than is necessary for clear and adequate visibility, and shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred (7,500) nits (candelas per square meter) between the hours of civil sunrise and civil sunset and shall not exceed five hundred (500) nits (candelas per square meter) between the hours of civil sunset and civil sunrise as measured from the face of the sign.
(2) The lamp wattage and luminance level in nits (candelas per square meter) shall be provided at the time of permit application from the owner or operator of the sign certifying that the sign shall at all times be operated in accordance with all relevant provisions of this code and that the owner or operator shall provide written proof of such conformity within five (5) business days after request from city staff.
f. Dynamic display billboards shall have a fully functional monitoring off switch system that automatically shuts the dynamic display billboard off when the display deteriorates, in any fashion, five percent (5%) or greater until the dynamic display sign has been repaired to its fully functional factory specifications.
g. Dynamic display billboards shall maintain a minimum spacing of eight hundred feet (800') between any other dynamic display electronic billboard on the same side of the highway and five hundred feet (500') between signs on the opposite side of the highway.
h. Dynamic display billboards must be part of the state of Minnesota's public safety alert system.
i. Applicants for a dynamic display billboard permit shall enter into an agreement with the city to provide the city no less than five (5) hours (provided in two thousand two hundred fifty 8-second spots) per month per dynamic display billboard face in the city for community and public service messages at such times as shall be determined by the city. This agreement must be approved by the city council before a permit for the construction or conversion of a dynamic display billboard may be issued by the building official.
5. Rezoning Of Property: The city has rezoned certain property within the city to the billboard overlay district by ordinance 1229 and by ordinance. The area rezoned to the billboard overlay district is the only appropriate area in the city for dynamic display billboards. Supreme court decisions and results from numerous safety studies have indicated that cities may restrict dynamic display billboards to limited geographic areas.
The property located within the city of Inver Grove Heights which has been rezoned and is hereby rezoned to be located in the dynamic display billboard overlay district is as follows: All of sections 27 and 34, Township 27N, Range 22W, and the north half of Section 33, Township 28N, Range 22W, lying north of l-494 between Hwy 52 and Blaine Avenue, Dakota County, Minnesota. (Ord. 1228, 1-24-2011; amd. Ord. 1379, 3-9-2020)