§ 27-701. General Regulations.

The following requirements apply to all signs.

      A.   Signs must be constructed of durable material and maintained in good condition.

      B.   No sign shall be maintained within the Township in such a state of disrepair or the appearance of complete neglect.

      C.   Whenever a sign becomes structurally unsafe or endangers the safety of the building or premise, or endangers the public safety, the Zoning Officer shall give written notice to the owner of the premises that such sign be made safe or removed within 5 days.

      D.   Advertising painted upon or displayed upon a barn or other building or structure shall be regarded as a flat wall sign and the regulations pertaining thereto shall apply.

      E.   Each sign shall be removed when the circumstances leading to its erection no longer apply.

      F.   Signs may be interior lighted with non-glaring lights, or may be illuminated by floodlights or spotlights that are. shielded so there is no direct light transmitted to other properties or public rights-of-way.

      G.   No sign shall be of the intermittent flashing or rotating type.

      H.   All electrically illuminated signs shall be constructed to the standards of the National Board of Fire Underwriters.

      I.   Signs must be positioned so that they do not interfere with a clear sight triangle or create a traffic danger.

      J.   No loud, vulgar, indecent or obscene advertising matter shall be displayed in any manner.

      K.   No sign shall be erected or located as to prevent free ingress or egress from any window, door or fire escape.

      L.   No sign shall be permitted which is permanently attached to public utility poles or trees within the right-of-way of any street.

      O.   In cases where signage is required by a franchiser, the minimum required sign shall be permitted.

      P.   Any advertising sign on a premise must advertise goods/services which represent a significant portion of the business conducted at the site.

      Q.   Determination of Size. The size of the sign shall refer to the area of the sign facing, including any border framing or decorative attachments. In the case of open signs made up of letters, figures and designs, the space between the letters, figures and designs shall be included. Where a sign has two or more faces, the area of all faces shall be included in determining the area of the sign, except that where two such faces are placed back to back and at no point more than 3 feet from one another, the area of the sign shall be taken as the area of one face if the two faces are of equal area, or as the area of the larger face if the two faces are of unequal size.

(Ord. 319/1993B, § 700)

§ 27-702. Specific Regulations.

In addition to the general sign regulations listed in the preceding Section and specific sign requirements that appear in the supplementary uses section of this Chapter, the following sign regulations shall also apply to the specific case and maintenance standards listed below. In the event there is conflict between the provisions of this section and the particular supplementary use categories in Part 5, the supplementary use requirement shall apply.

      A.   Real estate sale-sold-rent-development signs when placed on the property to be sold, rented or developed.

         (1)   These signs shall not exceed 6 square feet in area for each 100 feet of frontage, and provided further that no sign shall exceed 24 square feet in area.

         (2)   All such signs shall be removed within 5 days after final transactions are completed.

      B.   Open House Signs.

         (1)   These signs shall not exceed 6 square feet in area, and no more than one such sign shall be permitted per open house.

         (2)   No such sign may be erected earlier than 7 days prior to the open house, and must be removed no later than 1 day after the conduct of the open house.

         (3)   Open house signs need not be located on the premises of the open house; however, no open house sign shall be located within any street right-ofway.

      C.   Temporary (Special Event) Signs and Banners.

         (1)   One such sign may be permitted per lot for 1 period not exceeding 30 days during any calendar year.

         (2)   Temporary signs shall be limited to a maximum 64 square feet in total sign area.

         (3)   Special event signs must be removed within 24 hours of the event.

      D.   Clinton County Fairground Signs.

         (1)   One sign may be erected on the roadway approach to the Fairgrounds, SR 2008, and may be used on a year-round basis for publicizing fairground related activities conducted at the site.

         (2)   The sign may be one- or two-sided.

         (3)   The size of said sign shall not exceed 100 square feet.

         (4)   The sign may be illuminated by overhead or base mounted incandescent lights.

      E.   Billboards.

         (1)   Billboards shall be permitted by special exception within the LI district.

         (2)   No billboard shall be located within 1,000 feet of another billboard.

         (3)   All billboards shall be a minimum of 50 feet from all side and rear property lines.

         (4)   All billboards shall be setback at least 35 feet from any street right-ofway lines.

         (5)   All billboards shall be setback at least 100 feet from any land within a residential district.

         (6)   No billboard shall obstruct the view of motorists on adjoining roads, or the view of adjoining commercial or industrial uses, which depend upon visibility for identification.

         (7)   No billboard shall exceed an overall size of 300 square feet, nor exceed 25 feet in height.

(Ord.3/9/1993B,§ 701)

§ 27-703. Classification by Construction.

Signs shall, be divided into the following types of construction and shall be subject to the specific regulations listed therewith:

      A.   Ground Sign.

         (1)   A ground sign is any sign erected upon a permanently affixed independent structure (legs or base) so that such structure is the main support of the sign.

         (2)   Ground signs shall not include temporary signs that are attached to mobile trailers containing wheels and capable of being towed from one site to the next.

         (3)   No ground sign shall project to a point nearer than 20 feet from the edge of a street right-of-way, unless obstructing the motorists' view, at which time further setback is required.

         (4)   No support for any ground sign shall be located nearer than 12 feet to any property line. Such signs shall not exceed 20 feet in height nor exceed 80 square feet in total sign area.

      B.   Flat Wall Sign.

         (1)   A flat wall sign is a sign erected or displayed on or parallel to the surface of a building.

         (2)   Flat wall signs may have a maximum area of 15% of the wall area of the wall on which the sign is to be erected.

         (3)   Flat wall signs may be erected upon a canopy or marquee if the structural strength of such canopy or marquee is sufficient to safely carry the additional load, and provided that such signs may not extend beyond the edges of said canopy or marquee or extend within otherwise prohibited areas.

         (4)   Flat wall signs shall not project more than 12 inches from the building wall and must be located so that the lower edge is a minimum of 8 feet above grade where the sign projects from the wall more than 3 inches.

      C.   Wall Projecting Sign.

         (1)   A wall projecting sign is any sign mounted upon a building so that its principal face is at right angles to the building wall.

         (2)   Projecting signs shall be located upon the building so that the lower edge is a minimum of 10 feet above grade.

         (3)   Projecting signs may project a maximum of 10 feet from the building wall, provided however, that no sign shall project to a point nearer than 12 feet from the street right-of-way.

         (4)   No projecting sign shall extend more than 6 feet above the top of the wall upon which it is mounted.

         (5)   Wall projecting signs may be erected upon a canopy or marquee if the structural strength of such canopy or marquee is sufficient to safely carry the additional load, and provided that such signs may not extend beyond the edges of the canopy or marquee.

      D.   Roof Signs.

         (1)   A roof shall be defined as any sign erected or displayed upon the roof of any building or structure or a wall-mounted sign that projects above, a portion of which exceeds the height of the building.

         (2)   No roof sign shall be placed upon the roof of any building so as to prevent the free passage from one part of the roof to the other thereof, or interfere with any openings in such roof.

         (3)   No sign erected upon the roof of any building shall project beyond the edges of said roof in any direction.

         (4)   Roof signs may extend above the roof, or top of wall, a distance equal to '/a the height of the wall or 6 feet, whichever is the smaller height.

         (5)   Roof signs may have a maximum are of 15% of the wall area to which the sign is attached.

         (6)   No roof sign parallel to a building shall extend in length a distance greater than Ys the length of the wall to which it is parallel and in no case may exceed 15 feet in length.

(Ord. 3/9/1993B, § 702)

§ 27-704. Permit Requirements.

   1.   The following signs shall be permitted without requirement of permit for erection when erected and maintained in conformity hereto:

      A.   Official traffic signs.

      B.   Professional, accessory use or name signs.

      C.   Real estate sale-sold-rent-development signs, not exceeding 6 square feet in area.

      D.   That announce a function or event.

      E.   Signs within buildings, not visible from outdoors.

   2.   All other signs shall require the issuance of a permit prior to erection or installation of the sign.

   3.   Applications for sign permits shall be accompanied by scaled plans or diagrams showing the following:

      A.   Dimensions of the lot including any right-of-way lines or building upon which the sign is proposed to be erected.

      B.   Size, dimensions and location of the said sign on the lot or building together with its type, construction, materials to be used, and the manner of installation.

      C.   Any other information which may be required of the applicant by the Zoning Officer.

   4.   Application for permit shall be made in writing to the Zoning Officer and shall contain all information necessary for such Officer to determine whether the proposed sign, or the proposed alterations, conform to all the requirements of this Chapter.

   5.   No sign permit shall be issued except in conformity with the regulations of this Chapter, except upon order of the Zoning Hearing Board, granted pursuant to the procedures established for the issuance of a variance.

   6.   Permits shall be granted or refused within 45 days from date of application, or within 15 days from the date of the Zoning Hearing Board's decision (where applicable).

(Ord. 3/9/1993B, § 703)

§ 27-705. Signs Excluded from Regulation.

The following signs are permitted without a zoning, special use, conditional use or sign permit. However, such signs shall conform to the requirements set forth below:

      A.   Signs erected in connection with elections or political campaigns. Such signs shall be removed within 3 days following the election or conclusion of the campaign. No such sign may exceed 16 square feet in surface area.

      B.   Signs indicating that a special event such as a grand opening, fair, carnival, circus, festival or similar event is to take place on the lot where the sign is located. Such signs may be erected not sooner than 2 weeks before the event and must be removed not later than 3 days after the event.

      C.   Temporary signs of contractors, architects, mechanics and artisans.

         (1)   The signs shall be displayed only while actual work is in progress, and shall not exceed 6 square feet in area, and provided further that such signs must be removed promptly upon completion of work.

         (2)   Should such sign be left on the site beyond the allowable time frame, the Township may impound it and recover a fee from the owner of the sign equal to the costs of removal and storage of the sign.

      D.   Government mandated signs.

(Ord. 3/9/1993B, § 704)

PART 8 PERFORMANCE ZONING

§ 27-801. Authority and Purpose.

   1.   The Municipalities Planning Code makes provisions for waiving standards to promote better land development. This change incorporates similar language into the purpose of the local ordinance.

   2.   It is the intent of this Chapter to encourage flexibility, economy and creativity in layout and design of subdivisions and land development (mobile home parks) and planned residential developments. The Planning Commission should have the authority to alter site requirements in order to encourage sound site planning and development practices that are consistent with contemporary planning concepts and principles and the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

(Ord. 319/1993B, § 800)

§ 27-802. Definition.

Performance zoning is a method of regulating land use based upon flexibility and creativity. When this approach is used, it supersedes the standards of conventional zoning districts. Under performance zoning, land uses are permitted based upon meeting certain site criteria rather than upon their location in a specific zoning district. The increased flexibility of performance zoning enables the landowner to work with the constraints of the site and to buffer adjoining uses. Performance criteria include site capacity, evaluation and buffer standards which are described in § 27-804, 27-805 and 27-806 of this Chapter.

(Ord. 3/9/1993B, § 801)