(A) Building Director. This chapter shall be administered and enforced by the Building Director who shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) Receive all applications for sign permits;
(2) Perform the review and inspections required by this chapter;
(3) Enforce, as appropriate, the other laws and ordinances of the city as the same apply to the erection and maintenance of signs;
(4) Issue all permits in conformance with this chapter;
(5) Issue all citations or notices of violations required by this chapter;
(6) Maintain accurate records of all permits, inspections, citations, violations and fees and make the records available for public inspection during normal business hours;
(7) Make all determinations required of the City Council as provided by this chapter;
(8) Review and resolve any conflicts in standards, regulations, requirements or procedures arising from the application of this chapter and other laws or ordinances of the city regulating the erection and maintenance of signs or the licensing of sign contractors;
(9) Make all determinations, requirements, conditions or agreements necessary to affect the removal of nonconforming signs and signs subject to the amortization provisions of this chapter;
(10) Interpret the various provisions of this chapter as requested by either the City Council, City Manager, the applicant for or holder of a sign permit or the public;
(11) Review all requests for variations from the regulations established by this chapter and issue an order in accordance with the standards established below; and
(12) Make rules governing the administration and enforcement of this chapter in accordance with the provisions of the Kewanee City Code.
(B) Enforcement.
(1) The Building Director shall be authorized to enforce all provisions of this chapter. If the Building Director shall find that any sign has been erected or is being maintained in violation with the provisions of the chapter, the Building Director shall issue any citation which is necessary or take any action necessary as provided by the Kewanee City Code.
(2) Any person aggrieved by a decision, order or citation issued by the Building Director concerning any violation of this chapter, may appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Building Director shall take no further action on the matter pending the Zoning Board of Appeals decision, except unsafe signs which present an immediate and serious danger to the public may be removed. This appeal shall be heard by the Zoning Board of Appeals in accordance with the rules, regulations and bylaws adopted for this purpose set forth in Chapter 33.
(C) Variations. Variations in the requirements of the various provisions of this chapter may be granted in accordance with the following regulations.
(1) Application. A variation shall be made in writing to the Building Director who shall forward the same to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
(2) Standards. The following standards shall govern the granting of a variation by the Zoning Board of Appeals:
(a) The variation shall be based on practical difficulties arising from the strict application of the provisions of this chapter and not merely upon the desire of the applicant to establish an alternative signage;
(b) The variation shall be based on hardship imposed by the chapter and not upon any self-imposed hardship by the applicant;
(c) The variation granted shall be the least amount of variation which will overcome the practical difficulty or hardship;
(d) The variation shall be granted in conformance with the furtherance of the stated purpose and intent of this chapter; and
(e) The variation granted shall not be expressly prohibited as provided below.
(3) Authorized variations. The following variations or types of variations may be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals:
(a) Variations in the location of signs for businesses, which do not have direct street frontage;
(b) Variations in the size and height of individual signs;
(c) Any other variation which is not a prohibited variation; and
(d) Variation from the amortization requirements.
(4) Prohibited variations. The following variations or types of variations may not be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals: any variation that would result in an increase in the total amount of signage permitted on a lot.
(Ord. 3822, passed 1-11-16)