(A) Sign permit required.
(1) No person shall erect, alter, add to a sign or sign structure, except as provided in this section and unless a permit for the same has been issued by the Town Administrator. Where signs are illuminated by electric lighting requiring permanent wiring connections, a separate electrical permit shall be obtained as required by the Electrical Code of the town. Billboards are not authorized within the Town of Lakeside and permits will not be issued.
(2) Temporary sign may be permitted to business or developments.
(B) Official, quasi-official, and directional signs.
(1) Nothing herein contained shall prevent the erection, construction and maintenance of official, traffic, fire and police signs, signals, devices and markings of the state, town, or other appropriate governmental authorities, nor the posting of notices required by law. Private and quasi-public signs shall be prohibited upon public property unless authorized by the town or other appropriate governmental authority.
(2) Legal notices, telephone and other underground utility warning signs not exceeding one square foot in size and other safety signs may be erected without a permit being issued.
(C) Application for sign permit. Applications for sign permits shall be taken to Lakeside Town Hall for each development on which the sign or signs are to be erected and shall contain or have attached thereto the following information:
(1) Name, address, and telephone number of the applicant;
(2) Location of building, structure or lot to which or upon which the sign or advertising structure is to be attached or erected;
(3) Position of the sign or advertising structure in relation to nearby buildings or structures;
(4) Three blueprints or ink drawings of the plans, specifications, and method of construction and specifications and method of construction detailing attachment to the building or ground;
(5) Copy of stress sheets and calculations showing the structures are designed for deadload and wind pressure in any direction in the amount as required by the International Conference of Building Officials codes. All structural calculations and design drawings are to be by a professional engineer registered by the State of Texas;
(6) Name of person, firm, corporation, or association erecting structure or painting of a sign;
(7) Any electrical permit required and issued for each sign;
(8) Detailed plan of all existing signs, including photos and/or other pertinent data which will aid in the determination to the sign’s conformance with this chapter;
(9) Any other information as the Town Administrator shall require to show full compliance with this and all other codes and ordinances of the town; and
(10) (a) An application fee shall be charged and paid at the time any application for the issuance of a sign permit is made. In addition, if it is determined that a sign permit should be issued, the applicant shall pay an additional amount for the permit itself. No sign that requires a permit may be erected or placed until all fees are paid.
(b) A schedule of fees for the application for a permit and for the issuance of a permit shall be adopted by the City Council by resolution. The City Council may change and modify such fees by resolution from time to time.
(D) Nonconforming signs.
(1) The lawful use of any sign at the time this chapter was adopted may be continued for a period of five years, after which any sign not in compliance with this chapter shall be considered nonconforming.
(2) Except as this chapter may otherwise require, any nonconforming sign may be continued in operation on the same land and/or on the same structure which was in use on the effective date of these regulations or on the effective date of any amendment by which the use became nonconforming, but the sign area advertising and/or structure shall not change.
(3) No new permit may be issued for a sign which does not conform to the provisions of this section.
(E) Approval of traffic engineers. If, in the opinion of the Town Administrator, the plans and specifications indicate that the sign or sign structure might interfere with, mislead, or confuse traffic, and if a ground sign is to be placed on a corner lot and in the opinion of the Town Administrator, could create a potential hazard to traffic, the applicant shall be required to submit the certification from a qualified traffic engineer that the sign location and structure will not constitute a hazard.
(F) Issuance of permits. If it shall appear that the proposed sign structure is in compliance with all the requirements of this section and all other codes and ordinances of the town and has received approval where necessary, the Town Administrator shall then issue the sign permit. If work authorized under the permit has not been completed within 180 days or a proper extension granted thereto after the date of issuance, the permit shall become null and void. Issuance of a sign permit shall be conditioned upon the applicant’s acceptance of any conditions imposed by the town.
(G) Unsafe and unlawful signs.
(1) Signs or sign structures including those existing prior to this section shall be maintained at all times in a state of good repair, safe and secure with all braces, bolts, slips, supporting frame and fastenings free from deterioration, termite infestation, rot, rust or loosening, able to withstand at all times the wind pressure for which they were originally designed.
(2) No person maintaining any sign, sign structure, digital message board or electronic message board shall fail to keep the ground space within eight feet of the base of the sign, signboard, or advertising structure free and clear of weeds, rubbish, and other flammable materials.
(Ord. 174, passed 9-14-1995; Ord. 287, passed 4-10-2008; Ord. 385, passed 8-17-2014)