(Amended by Ord. No. 180,841, Eff. 8/14/09.)
A. New Signs. No person shall erect, construct, install, paint, maintain, and no building or electrical permit shall be issued for, any sign or sign support structure within 2,000 feet of a freeway unless the Department of Building and Safety has first determined that the sign will not be viewed primarily from a main traveled roadway of a freeway or an on-ramp/off-ramp. However, at the termination of an off-ramp, any wall sign located along the front line may be viewed primarily from the off-ramp.
The phrase “viewed primarily from” shall mean that the message may be seen with reasonable clarity for a greater distance by a person traveling on the main traveled roadway of a freeway or on-ramp/off-ramp than by a person traveling on the street adjacent to the sign.
B. Exemption. The wall signs specified in Subdivisions 1. and 2. below are exempt from the limitation of Subsection A. above. These signs shall not have moving parts or any arrangement of lights that create the illusion of movement.
1. Identification signs identifying the building where the sign is located, providing the area of the sign is not more than 50 square feet or is not larger than five percent of the area of the side of the building, which faces primarily to the freeway, whichever is greater; and
2. Wall signs on which the advertising is limited to the name of any person, firm or corporation occupying the building, or the type of business, services rendered, or the name of any product manufactured or sold on the premises. The total area of all wall signs on a building permitted in this subdivision shall not exceed 100 square feet. Any one sign shall not exceed 50 square feet in area.
C. Existing Signs. Within three years of the opening of a freeway to public travel, all signs that existed prior to the opening of the freeway and that are in conflict with the provisions of this section and/or Section 14.4.5 of this Code shall be removed, or shall be rearranged or relocated so as to eliminate any conflict with the provisions of this section and/or Section 14.4.5 of this Code.
The Department of Building and Safety and the Department of Transportation shall determine whether or not the sign or sign support structure is in conflict with the provisions of this section and/or Section 14.4.5 of this Code. If it is determined that any sign or sign support structure is in conflict with any of the provisions of this section and/or Section 14.4.5 of this Code, then the permittee and/or other responsible person shall be advised and shall remove, rearrange or relocate the sign or sign support structure within this three-year period.
D. Operative Date. This section shall become operative only to the extent that this section is deemed constitutional upon the reversal of the trial court decision in the case of World Wide Rush, LLC v. City of Los Angeles, United States District Court Case No. CV 07-238 ABC.