The purpose and intent of this Sign Code is to create the legal framework for a comprehensive and balanced system of regulating signs and outdoor advertising. Such regulations are concerned with communication along streets and highways, and deal with symbols and letters as they appear on signs, billboards, banners, store fronts, marquees, canopies, and all other stationary visual media whether located on or off the premises of the activity to which the message pertains.
It is the further purpose and intent of this chapter to: facilitate an easy and pleasant communication between people and their environment; avoid the visual clutter that is potentially harmful to traffic and pedestrian safety, property values, business opportunities, and community aesthetics and appearance; protect the general public from damage and injury caused by the distractions, hazards, and obstructions caused by signs; minimize the abundance and size of signs to reduce motorist distraction and the loss of safe sight distance; preserve the value of property by assuring the compatibility of signs with surrounding land uses; promote public convenience; support and complement the land use objectives identified in the City's Comprehensive Development Plan and Zoning Code; enhance the aesthetic appearance and quality of life within the City; and protect the public safety, health and welfare.
It is recognized that the primary function of signs is to index the environment - that is, to tell people where they can find what. "Selling" or "advertising" are subordinate purposes and remain auxiliary to indexing. The number, type, size, height, location, and illumination of signs need only be sufficient to allow motorists and pedestrians to see them, recognize the activity they represent, and safely slow their vehicle in time to access the establishment, and/or to allow pedestrians to recognize the activity they represent.
It is also recognized that there are generally accepted and empirically derived standards for the type, size, spacing, area, and setback of signs based upon the speed limits and number of vehicular traffic lanes on the street which they front. These standards are generally intended to allow signs that can be recognized at a given distance by a motorist, allowing them to safely slow down and access the site for which the sign advertises. However, these standards do not account for the peculiar characteristics of the City's business corridors. These characteristics include, but are not limited to, the following: unusually narrow widths and shallow depths of commercial properties fronting on the City's major thoroughfares, caused by progressive road widening; the proximity of existing buildings to each other and to property and right-of-way lines; traffic flows and congestion levels; and the goals and objectives of the City's Comprehensive Development Plan and Zoning Code.
The City of Lincoln Park has thus determined that these characteristics warrant modifications to these generally accepted standards though empirically derived sign standards. The regulations and standards of this chapter represent these modifications and are considered the minimum amount of regulation necessary to achieve a substantial government interest for public safety, aesthetics, and protection of property values. The regulations and standards contained in this chapter are intended to achieve the following objectives:
(a) Authorize the use of signs that are compatible with their surroundings, appropriate to the activity that displays them, expressive of the identity of individual activities and the community as a whole, and legible in their environments.
(b) Recognize the proliferation of signs is distracting to motorists and nonmotorized travelers, reduces the effectiveness of signs directing and warning the public, causes confusion, reduces desired uniform traffic flow, and creates potential for vehicular accidents.
(c) Prevent signs that are potentially dangerous to the public due to structural deficiencies, disrepair, or distraction to motorists.
(d) Reduce visual pollution and obstructions caused by a proliferation of signs that could diminish the City's image, property values, and quality of life.
(e) Enable the public to locate goods, services, and facilities without excessive difficulty and confusion by restricting the number and placement of signs.
(f) Prevent placement of signs that will conceal or obscure signs of adjacent uses.
(g) Protect the public right to receive information protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
(h) Prevent off-premise signs from conflicting with land uses.
(i) Maintain and improve the image of the City by encouraging signs that are compatible with conforming existing signs, have good viewing qualities with passing motorists, and are compatible with buildings and streets, through the establishment of specific standards for various areas in the City.
(j) Preserve and enhance the image of the City's business districts and other districts. (Res. 2020-059A. Passed 4-20-20.)