Unless otherwise stated, the following terms shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meaning indicated in this chapter. Words used in the present tense include the future. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter. The singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular. Where terms are not defined herein, they shall have their ordinary accepted meanings or such as the context shall imply.
ABANDONED SIGN. A sign no longer correctly advertising a bona fide business, institution, lessor, owner, product or activity available or located on the premises where the sign is displayed.
A-FRAME. A temporary sign, otherwise known as a sandwich board, which is not generally mounted to the ground. It is a double-sided sign connected at the top and separated at the bottom.
ARCHITECTURAL MATERIALS. Building materials used in or customarily used in the construction of the exterior of a building or the particular materials used in the construction of the exterior of any building which displays a cornerstone as defined herein.
AWNING. An architectural projection that provides weather protection, identity or decoration and is wholly supported by the building to which it is attached. An AWNING is comprised of a lightweight frame structure over which a covering is attached. AWNINGS shall comply with Section 3105 of the IBC.
BACKLIGHTED LETTER. An illuminated reverse channel letter (open or translucent back) configured so light from the letter is directed against the surface behind the letter producing a halo lighting effect around the letter.
BANNER SIGN. A sign made of fabric or any non-rigid material with no enclosing framework. A BANNER SIGN shall be a temporary sign as regulated by this chapter.
BENCH. Any bench, chair, seat or structure upon which a person may sit and which directs attention to a business, commodity service or entertainment conducted, sold or offered for sale. BENCH signs are prohibited in the city.
BILLBOARD. See definition of OFF-PREMISES SIGN.
BUILDING DIRECTOR. Building Director, Neighborhood Services Coordinator or designee thereof.
CABINET SIGN. A lettered glass or plastic panel lit by fluorescent lighting behind.
CANOPY. A permanent structure or architectural projection of rigid construction over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection, identity or decoration, and shall be structurally independent or supported by attachment to a building on one end and by not less than one stanchion on the outer end. CANOPIES must comply with Section 3105 of the IBC.
CHANGEABLE COPY SIGN. Any sign on which the message, letters, characters, illustrations or other symbols can be changed, replaced or rearranged on the surface of the sign.
CHANNEL LETTER. A fabricated or formed three-dimensional letter that may accommodate a light source.
CITY. The City of Kewanee, Illinois.
COMBINATION SIGN. A sign incorporating any combination of the features of pole, projecting and roof signs.
CONSTRUCTION SIGN. A sign identifying the designers, contractor and financiers and other information regarding a project on the site where the sign is located.
CORNERSTONE. A permanent sign showing the name of the building, address, date of construction, name of the architect, name of the owner or similar information concerning a building, provided that where the sign is not integral with the design and structure of the building it shall consist of a cast metal plaque or similar object permanently affixed to the building. Included in the definition of CORNERSTONE are the name of the building when presented as a part of the facade of the building and decorative trim or other decoration device when designed and constructed as an integral part of the building, provided the same is purely ornamental and does not represent any trademark, logotype or other reference to the owner of the building or the products or services offered therein. No CORNERSTONE may be a roof sign, or projecting and hanging sign or a painted sign and must be “part of” as distinguished from “attached to” a principal or accessory building.
DETERIORATED. When applied to a sign or sign face, a change in the condition of the sign such that structural members are weakened; fastenings are weakened or loosened; anchors are weakened or loosened; components of the sign such as letters, glass tubing, trim, access plane or other parts have become weakened, loosened, displaced or damaged, paint or other protective covering is worn away, flaked, peeling or loosened in whole or in part, and/or the sign face is flaked, peeling, worn away or damaged. A DETERIORATED sign or sign component need not be an unsafe sign or component and need not pose an immediate safety hazard.
DEVELOPMENT SIGN. A monument sign placed at the entrance to a residential, commercial or industrial subdivision, indicating the name of the subdivision.
DIRECTIONAL SIGN. A sign designating the location or direction of any place or area.
DIRECTORY. Any permanent, enclosed changeable copy sign used to identify the occupants of a building or group of buildings and their location within the same.
ELECTRICAL SIGN. A sign containing electrical wiring, but not including signs illuminated by an exterior light source.
ERECT. As applied to signs and as used in this chapter, the act of construction, placing, displaying, erecting, relocating or painting in place a sign, and shall not include the printing fabrication or painting of signs in a sign shop or in a location other than where the sign is to be displayed or any permitted aspect of sign maintenance when applied to an existing sign.
EYE CATCHER. A temporary sign or device which flutters or moves in the wind, which revolves, moves or changes shape, or which reflects light in a startling or unusual way or which emits light, changes color, or turns on and off in such a way as to attract or capture the attention of a passerby. For the purposes of this definition, it shall not be a requirement that EYE CATCHERS contain or put forth any particular message or other information. However, the presence of a message or other information attached to or incorporated into the design of the EYE CATCHER as defined herein shall not serve to classify it as any type of sign other than an eye catcher. Included here are strings of flags, pennants, whirlygigs, balloons or other inflatable items, or other wind-driven devices, flashing lights, search lights, novelty items or similar devices but without limitation to their being specifically included herein.
FACADE. All window and wall area in the front plane or elevation of a building or storefront. In the case of a two-story building, only the first level shall be used in calculating the FACADE area. For purposes of calculating wall signage, if the facade is not a straight line, the FACADE shall be the lineal distance measured from corner to corner at grade level.
FIRM. Any partnership, corporation, group or association, whether constituted on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis.
FLAG. A lightweight fabric, or other material with patterns and colors, which is meant to move in the wind.
FRONTAGE. For the purposes of this chapter only, a lot line or the length of a lot line, which is also the line of any public street right-of-way other than an alley. The FRONTAGE of the lot or parcel that is legally created or described as extending to the centerline of a street shall be measured along the line which denotes the edge or boundary of the easement established for the street. The street shall exist or have been created for street purposes and may be a limited access or controlled-access roadway but shall not be a utility right-of-way, drainage way, park or railroad and shall not be an alley.
GROUND SIGN. A freestanding sign permanently attached to or supported by a foundation. Not attached to any building. Some examples of GROUND SIGNS include but are not limited to pole signs and monument signs.
H-CHANNEL LETTER. A dimensional letter with baffles at the center of the cross-sectional shape for support of neon tubing and mounting of transformers.
ILLEGIBLE. When applied to a sign, any sign on which there are missing letters or words, a deteriorated sign face or an obscured sign face so that the recognition of the symbols or words or the cognition of the sign message is not immediate, requires a longer time than would be required if the missing, damaged or obscured parts were repaired or replaced. Any sign on which 10% of the letters, words or symbols are missing, damaged or obscured shall be considered ILLEGIBLE for purposes of this chapter.
LINEAR FEET. The measurement of distance per foot in a straight line.
MAINTAIN. The act of restoring, preserving, refurbishing, cleaning, renewing, painting, repainting, or keeping within the public view the sign or signs.
MARQUEE. A permanent roofed structure attached to and supported by the building and that projects into the public right-of-way. MARQUEES must comply with Section 3106 of the IBC.
MEASURED SIGN. All permanent signs for which this chapter establishes restrictions upon the area of the sign or upon the total area of the signage to be displayed upon a lot.
MEASURED SIGN AREA. The area of the sign face determined in one of the following ways and upon which the regulations of the amount of signage permitted by this chapter is based:
(1) The MEASURED SIGN AREA shall be taken as the area inside a perimeter determined by connecting with straight line segments the extreme outside corners or edges of the sign face. When individual letters are used, the sign area shall be determined by the above procedure and shall include all of the blank space, as well as the individual letters, in the square foot area thus determined;
(2) Where the sign contains more than one face facing in the same direction, the perimeter shall enclose all faces;
(3) Where the sign contains identical faces facing in opposite directions, the MEASURED SIGN AREA shall only be counted once; and
(4) All measurements shall be made from the actual sign or from scaled drawings and shall be accurate within one square foot. All MEASURED SIGN AREAS are expressed in square feet.
NAME PLATE. A sign containing the name or street address and occupation or profession of the occupant of a building.
NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES COORDINATOR. Neighborhood Services Coordinator or designee thereof.
OFF-PREMISES SIGN. A sign, other than an outdoor advertising sign, which refers to a place of business or event at a location other than the lot upon which the sign is erected.
OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGN (also BILLBOARD). A sign, sign board, wall or other framework, device or other structure erected and maintained for the purpose of displaying commercial and other message for hire having a sign area not exceeding 300 square feet. See also § 155.142.
PAINTED WALL SIGN. Any wall sign that is applied directly to the wall or other surface of any existing building or other structure without any support or surface preparation other than paint, primer, or similar products or materials.
PENNANT. Any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire or string, usually in series, designed to move in the wind.
PERSON. A person, partnership, corporation, firm, association or other body or individual.
POLE SIGN. A sign wholly supported by a sign structure in the ground.
PORTABLE SIGN. Any temporary ground sign or any other ground sign that does not conform to the regulations for sign construction and erection. PORTABLE SIGNS include but are not limited to those on trailers or other framed base not attached to the ground in conformance with the adopted building code and may be illuminated or non-illuminated and may have changeable copy characteristics.
PROJECTING SIGN. A sign other than a wall sign, which projects from and is supported by a wall of a building or structure. PROJECTING SIGNS must comply with § H112 of the IBC.
REAL ESTATE SIGN. Any sign indicating that the premises upon which it is located is available for sale or lease. A REAL ESTATE SIGN may be either a ground sign or a wall sign.
REVERSE CHANNEL LETTER. A fabricated dimensional letter with opaque face and side walls.
ROOF SIGN. A sign erected upon or above a roof or parapet of a building or structure. ROOF SIGNS must comply with § H110 of the IBC.
ROTATING OR MOVING SIGN. Any sign which revolves, rotates, swings, undulates or otherwise attracts attention by moving parts, whether operated by mechanical equipment or by natural sources, but not including flags or banners.
SIGN. Any letter, figure, character, mark, plane, point, marquee sign, design, poster, pictorial, picture, stroke, stripe, line, trademark, reading matter or illuminated service, which shall be constructed, placed, attached, painted, erected, fastened or manufactured in any manner whatsoever, so that the same shall be used for the attraction of the public to any place, subject, person, firm, corporation, public performance, article, machine or merchandise, whatsoever, which is displayed in any manner outdoors. Every SIGN shall be classified and conform to the requirements of that classification as set forth in this chapter. Any SIGN classification not set forth in this chapter shall conform to the requirements of that classification as set forth in § H102, § 3105, § 3106 and/or any other section of the IBC that applies to said sign classification.
SIGN COMPONENTS. For the purpose of this regulation, there are three components to a sign: the sign face, the supporting structure and the structural trim.
SIGN FACE. The surface of the sign upon which the message, logotype, symbol or other device is located including surrounding moldings, trim, decorative trim or any portion of the sign which is painted with a distinctive color scheme or in colors which contrast in hue or value with the painted or natural colors of the supporting structure or structural trim, if any.
SIGN STRUCTURE. Any structure which supports or is capable of supporting a sign as defined in this code. A SIGN STRUCTURE is permitted to be a single pole and is not required to be an integral part of the building.
SKELETON SIGN. A measured sign where individual letters are bracketed to a freestanding support.
SNIPE SIGN. A temporary sign or poster affixed to a tree, fence and the like.
SOLID SIGN. For purposes of construction specifications, a non-skeleton sign.
STRUCTURAL TRIM. Any battens, capping, nailing strips, latticing, platforms, railings and light fixtures attached to or used in conjunction with a sign.
SUPPORTING STRUCTURE. All load bearing members including uprights, cross bars, diagonal braces, guys, light fixture supports and similar components. The exposed back of any sign face shall be considered part of the structure.
WALL SIGN. Any sign which is attached to and supported by the wall of a building or other structure provided the sign face is parallel to the wall to which the sign is attached.
WINDOW SIGN. Any permanent sign displayed inside the window or a doorway of a building or upon the interior wall of a building opposite a window in a way as to be clearly visible from the outside.
(Ord. 3822, passed 1-11-16; Am. Ord. 3852, passed 10-24-16)