For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
A-FRAME SIGN. A portable sign with advertising messages mounted on one or two surfaces with two edges connected with the other two edges spread so that the two faces read from different directions.
ADVERTISING STRUCTURE. All such structures used as outdoor advertisement, regardless of size and shape, for the purposes of advertising anything, the origin or place of sale or service of which is not on the property with such advertising structure.
ANIMATED SIGN. Any sign which uses mechanical or electrical movement or change of lighting, either natural or artificial, to depict action or to create visual motion or the appearance thereof.
APARTMENT/MULTIFAMILY IDENTIFICATION SIGN. A sign identifying an apartment or multifamily building or an apartment or multifamily complex by name and/or address.
AREA OF DESIGNATED SIGNS. See § 10-6.03(G).
BANNER. Any cloth, bunting, plastic, paper, or similar non-rigid material attached to, or appended on or from, any structure, staff, pole, line, or framing upon which there is an advertising message, or which is intended for promotion.
BARBER POLE. A rotating or stationery cylindrical pole of the traditional red, white, and blue spiral striped design, identifying the premises as a barber shop.
BASE OF THE SIGN STRUCTURE. The structural component of a freestanding sign located below the sign face.
BILLBOARD. An Advertising Structure. See definition of “Advertising Structure”.
BUSINESS CENTER. A group of contiguous businesses which utilize common access, off-street parking, and/or the center name.
BUSINESS SIGN. A sign which directs attention to a business, major category of products, services, industry, or other activity which is sold, offered, or conducted on the premises upon which such sign is located.
CHANGEABLE COPY SIGN. A permanent sign, or portion of a sign, with a face panel having detachable, interchangeable individual lettering, which allows the lettering to be removed, altered, and replaced. Such signs shall not be changed more often than once every 24 hours. A sign on which the message changes more than once per 24-hour period shall be considered an animated sign and not a changeable copy sign for purposes of this chapter.
CHANGEABLE PANEL SIGN. A permanent sign that allows the face panel, having fixed lettering, to be removed and replaced. Such signs shall not be changed more often than once every 24 hours. A sign on which the panel changes more than once per 24-hour period shall be considered an animated sign and not a changeable copy sign for purposes of this chapter.
COPY. The design of a sign face consisting of letters, colors, patterns, images, and/or similar content.
DIRECTIONAL OR INFORMATIONAL SIGN. A sign giving only information and direction to the viewer and containing no advertising message.
DIRECTORY SIGN. A sign or set of similarly designed individual signs, placed or displayed in sequence, to list all or a part of the businesses within a building, business center, or shopping center.
DISPLAY WINDOW. A window area, typically located along the front elevation of a business, and/or in conjunction with a public entrance into the business, which displays merchandise available for purchase within. DISPLAY WINDOWS may or may not include decoration, including seasonal decor, as well as textual elements such as prices and promotional verbiage. A DISPLAY WINDOW shall not function as a marketing window.
EXEMPT SIGN. A sign which is not subject to a sign permit.
FLAG. Any fabric, banner, or bunting containing distinctive colors, patterns, or design that displays the symbol(s) of a nation, state, local government, company, organization, belief system, idea, or other meaning.
FLASHING SIGN. Any sign which is perceived as an intermittent light, flashing light, or changing of color intensity light.
FREESTANDING SIGN. A sign installed upon, or mounted on top of the ground, in a permanent fashion, which sign is self-supporting, not attached to a building. Signs mounted on architecturally integrated extensions of buildings shall not be considered freestanding.
FREEWAY SIGN. An on-site and privately maintained sign that is building mounted or freestanding and is intended to be viewed from a freeway.
FRONTAGE, OCCUPANCY. A single lineal dimension measured horizontally along the front of a building which defines the limits of a particular business or use at that location and which has direct public pedestrian access through an exterior wall.
FRONTAGE, SITE. The length of a site along the street or other principal public thoroughfare, but not including such a length along an alley, watercourse, railroad, or freeway.
GASOLINE PRICE SIGN. An on-premises sign identifying the brand, and/or type, and price of gasoline sold.
GOVERNMENTAL OR OTHER SIGNS REQUIRED BY LAW. A sign placed in any area of the city by a governmental entity or private individual or business as required by federal, state, or local laws.
GRAPHICS. All lettering, logos, pictures, symbols, patterns, and depictions, including color, on a sign.
GROUND SIGN. A freestanding sign. See definition of “Freestanding Sign”.
HEIGHT. The distance from the sidewalk or roadbed grade nearest the base of the sign to the top of the highest element of the sign. When there is no sidewalk, the grade of roadbed nearest the sign shall be used.
IDENTIFICATION SIGN. A sign which serves to tell only the name, address, and lawful use of the occupant or building upon which the sign is located.
ILLUMINATED SIGN. A sign in which an artificial source of light is used in order to make the message readable. This definition shall include internally and externally lighted signs and reflectorized, glowing, or radiating signs.
INSTITUTIONAL SIGN. A sign identifying the premises of, or announcing the activities conducted by, a church, school, hospital, rest home, or similar institutional facility.
LEGAL NONCONFORMING SIGN. Any sign which was lawfully erected and maintained and subsequently came within the requirements of an ordinance or amendments to an ordinance with which it did not completely comply.
LOGO. The name, symbol, emblem, insignia, or trademark of a company or organization.
MAJOR TENANT. A tenant in a business center leasing a large portion of the leasable space in such center. The minimum size of a major tenant shall be 10,000 square feet.
MANAGER OR OFFICE OF MANAGER SIGN. A sign which identifies the location of the manager or the office of the manager of property.
MANSARD ROOF. A roof having an almost vertical facing on three or more sides on the exterior portion of the roof and an almost horizontally flat roof on the interior portion of the roof.
MARKETING WINDOW. Floor space constructed within a structure that is designed and built to be exclusively used for promotional graphics to be viewed from the exterior of the structure. The space is designed only to provide an interior vestibule from which additional promotional graphics can be employed to attract attention and no access to the space is available to the general public. MARKETING WINDOWS may only display graphical elements and/or photographs representative of the goods and/or services offered within, and should not incorporate any advertising copy. A MARKETING WINDOW shall not function as a display window, as merchandise is not typically a component of marketing window signage.
MARQUEE SIGN. Any sign which is on top, attached to the face, or suspended below a marquee, canopy, cantilevered covered walkway, or arcade, whether parallel to or at right angles to the face of the building.
MASTER SIGN PROGRAM. A coordinated program of one or more signs for an individual business establishment, business center, or shopping center.
MONUMENT STYLE SIGN. A freestanding sign where the height of the sign is equal to or less than the length of the base of the sign and having a maximum height of ten feet. The area below the sign copy shall be solid from the ground to the lower edge of the copy area.
MURAL. An original work of art hand-painted on a structural wall surface, not intended to advertise, but instead to aesthetically entertain.
OFF-PREMISES SIGN. The same as advertising structure. See definition of “Advertising Structure”.
ON-BUILDING SIGN. A sign attached to, and wholly supported by, the wall of a building.
ON-SITE SIGN. A sign specifically related in its subject matter to the premises on which it is located.
PENNANT. Any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, attached to a rope, wire, or string, usually in a series, designed to move in the wind and attract attention.
PARKING FACILITY SIGN. A sign placed or displayed in a parking lot to supply information to people using such lot, including information with respect to liability.
PLACED OR DISPLAYED. Erected, constructed, posted, painted, printed, tacked, glued, carved, or otherwise fastened, fixed, or made visible in any manner whatsoever.
POLITICAL SIGN. A sign associated with a candidate for an elected office, political party, or ballot measure or which makes a political statement.
PORTABLE SIGN. A sign which is capable of being carried or moved by manual or mechanical means from one location to another.
PROJECTING SIGN. A sign characterized by its attachment at an angle or perpendicular to the face of a building as opposed to being mounted flat on the surface of such building. Any sign which extends 12 inches or more from a building surface shall be considered a PROJECTING SIGN.
PUBLIC ENTRANCE. An entrance into a building recognized as a main or principal entrance. Fire exit only doorways and/or employee only entrances shall not be included as PUBLIC ENTRANCES.
PUBLIC PLACE. Any and all public streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public ways and any and all public parks, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings, held and possessed within the public trust.
READER BOARD SIGN. The same as a changeable copy sign. See definition of “Changeable Copy Sign”.
REAL ESTATE SIGN. A sign offering developed or undeveloped real property for sale, lease, or rent.
ROOF LINE. A horizontal plane projected parallel to the plane of the roof fascia line or top of a parapet wall or an angular plane projected parallel to the verge rafter of a gable roof.
ROOF SIGN. Any sign erected upon or above the roof line of a building or placed above the apparent flat roof or eaves of a building.
SHOPPING CENTER. A group of commercial establishments planned, generally constructed, and managed as a total entity with employee and customer parking provided on the site under common control or shared under a reciprocal agreement. SHOPPING CENTER is further defined as “major” (50 or more acres or 300,000 square feet or more of total floor area), “community” (ten to 50 acres),
and “neighborhood” (up to 15 acres). For the purposes of this chapter, commercial developments shall be classified as shopping centers, rather than business centers, when they are comprised of at least ten businesses/tenants and have a minimum of 50,000 square feet.
SIGN. Any figure, character, outline, delineation, announcement, declaration, demonstration, illustration, emblem, words, numerals, or letters of an attention-attracting display or device painted, illuminated, posted, or affixed on any surface or in a manner used to attract attention to the premises or to advertise or promote the interest of any person, activity, business, or enterprise when the same is placed so that it is clearly visible to the general public from an out-of-doors position; provided, however, noncommercial natural floral and plant displays shall not be considered signs in computing the number or area of signs permitted. SIGN shall not include the official flag of the United States of America, the state, or the county, or official notices authorized by a court, public body, or public officer, directional, warning, or information signs authorized by federal, state, county, or municipal authority for public safety, or the official emblem or insignia of a government or public school.
SIGN AREA. The area of a sign encompassed by a maximum of eight connected straight line segments drawn around the extremities of the sign frame or can (if a frame or can is used to support or define the copy background area), or the sign copy background area (if no sign, frame, or can is used), or the sign copy (if no copy background area or frame or can is used).
SIGN CLEARANCE. The vertical distance between the bottom of a sign and the sidewalk or roadbed grade nearest the base of the sign.
SIGN FACE. The same as sign area. See definition of “Sign Area”.
SIGN STRUCTURE. Any structure which supports or is capable of supporting any sign. A SIGN STRUCTURE may or may not be an integral part of a building. For the purpose of a freestanding sign, the sign structure shall include the aggregate area of the sign, including the sign copy and all structural elements of the sign.
SITE. An individual parcel or the area within the extreme boundaries of a multiple business or shopping center without regard to the individual lease lines or parcels within such center.
SUBDIVISION DIRECTIONAL SIGN. An off-premise sign providing information on the location of a subdivision whose lots, parcels, or units are being offered for sale, lease, or rent.
SUBDIVISION IDENTIFICATION SIGN. An on-premise sign advertising developed or undeveloped real property which has been divided into five or more lots, parcels, or units for sale, lease, or rent. (Signs advertising fewer than five such lots shall be treated as “real estate signs.”)
TEMPORARY IDENTIFICATION SIGN. A sign used in place of a permanent identification sign until such time as the permanent sign can be installed. A maximum period of 30 days shall be allowed stating the name of the business only.
TEMPORARY FREESTANDING SIGN. A sign, temporary in nature, which neither satisfies the definition of a freestanding sign or on-building sign, to include, but not limited to, A-frame signs, I-frame signs, stabbers, feathers, waivers, and vehicle signs.
TEMPORARY SIGN. A sign to be displayed for a period not to exceed 14 days (except temporary identification signs).
UNDER-CANOPY SIGN. A sign suspended no lower than seven feet above the public right-of-way under a canopy or awning of a building which sign identifies a business, profession, or industry conducted on the premises by name only.
VEHICLE SIGN. A sign on a vehicle used for the purpose of advertising a business location, a special sale, or the like by any means.
WAVER. An individual or apparatus which is used for the purpose of advertising a business location, a special sale, or the like by any means, with or without a sign, with or without a costume, either on private property or in the public right-of-way.
WALL SIGN. Any sign painted on or attached parallel to the wall facing of a building and projecting not more than 12 inches from the building face. See definition of “On-Building Sign”.
WINDOW SIGN. A sign attached to, suspended behind, placed, or painted upon the window or glass door of a building and intended for viewing from the exterior of such building. This definition does not include merchandise offered for sale on site, when on display in a window.
WINDBLOWN DEVICE. A manmade device which visibly moves when blown by the wind, other than flags or banners.
(Ord. 864 C.S., passed 11-4-09; Am. Ord. 892 C.S., passed 1-4-12)