(A) Purpose. The purpose of this article is to:
(1) Communication. Set out reasonable regulations for the design, location, installation, operation, repair, and maintenance of signs which facilitates businesses, residents, and other interested parties to communicate, advertise, or be identified;
(2) Free speech. Provide for reasonable regulation while also safeguarding the constitutionally protected right of free speech;
(3) Content neutrality. Create content-neutral sign regulations which balance the legitimate needs of individuals, entities, and organizations to convey messages with the legitimate objectives of the city to promote public safety, enhance community character and enhance private property values;
(4) Compatibility. Assure compatibility of signs with surrounding land uses;
(5) Clutter. Prevent and reduce sign clutter which can have negative consequences to the city which include, but are not limited to the following:
(a) Undue visual distractions which may create a public safety hazard for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians;
(b) Degrading the aesthetic character of the city and therefore making the city less attractive for residents, visitors, commerce, and private investment; and
(c) Physical obstructions within the public right-of-way which create public safety hazards.
(6) Permitting and enforcement. Provide timely, fair, and consistent permitting and enforcement of signage throughout the city.
(B) Applicability. The standards of this article apply to the following development activities:
(1) New development. New residential, nonresidential, or mixed-use development or change in use from residential to nonresidential or mixed-use;
(2) Increase in intensity. Increase in apartment units, manufactured home pads, gross floor area, or impervious surface by 20% or more, cumulatively over a five-year period; or
(3) New sign. Construction, placement, painting, or another form of creation of a new sign.
(C) No restriction on content. This article regulates only the sign structure or copy design, and not the sign’s content. Despite any other provision of this article, no sign is subject to any limitation based on the content of its message. Any sign authorized in this article may contain any non-commercial copy in lieu of any other copy.
(D) Signs permitted before effective date. If a permit for a sign has been issued in accordance with all city ordinances in effect prior to the effective date of this Zoning Ordinance, and provided that construction is begun within six months of the effective date of this article and diligently built to completion, the sign may be completed in accordance with the approved permit. Such sign is subject to provisions regarding nonconforming signs in § 156.K.005, Nonconforming Signs.
(Ord. 15039, passed 4-11-2022)