For the purposes of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABANDONED SIGN.
(1) Any sign and/or its supporting sign structure which remains without a message or whose display surface remains blank for a period of one year or more, or any sign which pertains to a time, event or purpose which no longer applies, shall be deemed to have been abandoned.
(2) Signs applicable to a business temporarily suspended because of a change in ownership or management of such business shall not be deemed abandoned unless the property remains vacant for a period of one year or more.
(3) Any sign remaining after demolition of a principal structure shall be deemed to be abandoned.
(4) Signs which are present because of being legally established nonconforming signs or signs which have required a conditional use permit or a variance shall also be subject to the definition of ABANDONED SIGN.
ADMINISTRATOR. The City Administrator of the City of Mayer or his or her designee. The person designated by the City Council to administer this subchapter.
AWNING. A roof-like cover, often of fabric, plastic, metal or glass designed and intended for protection from the weather or as a decorative embellishment, and which projects from a wall or roof of a structure primarily over a window, walk, or the like. Any part of an awning which also projects over a door shall be counted as an AWNING.
AWNING SIGN. A building sign or graphic printed on or in some fashion attached directly to the awning material.
BALLOON SIGN. A sign consisting of a bag made of lightweight material supported by helium, hot, or pressurized air which is greater than 24 inches in diameter.
BANNER. A sign of any lightweight fabric or similar material that is permanently mounted to a pole or building by a permanent frame at one or more edges. National, state, and municipal flags and any official business and/or institutional flag are not banners.
BLADE SIGN. Any freestanding sign with its sign face mounted on the ground or mounted on a base which has a height exceeding its width.
BUILDING. Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
BUILDING SIGN. Any sign attached or supported by any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
CABINET SIGN. Any wall sign that is not of channel or individually mounted letter construction.
CANOPY. A roof-like cover, often of fabric, plastic, metal, or glass on a support, which provides shelter over a doorway.
CANOPY SIGN. Any sign that is part of or attached to a canopy, made of fabric, plastic, or structural protective cover over a door or entrance. A CANOPY SIGN is not a marquee and is different from service area canopy signs.
COMMERCIAL SIGN. Any sign wording, logo, or other representation that, directly or indirectly, names advertises, or calls attention to a business, product, service, or other commercial activity.
COMMERCIAL SPEECH. Speech advertising a business, profession, commodity, service or entertainment.
DYNAMIC SIGN. A motion sign or a digital flat panel/screen that can display video, LCD, plasma, or other moving images.
ELEVATION. The view of the side, front, or rear of a given structure(s).
ELEVATION AREA. The area of all walls that face any lot line.
ERECT. Activity of constructing, building, raising, assembling, placing, affixing, attaching, creating, painting, drawing or any other way of bringing into being or establishing.
FLAG. Any fabric or similar lightweight material attached at one end of the material, usually to a staff or pole, so as to allow movement of the material by atmospheric changes and which contains distinctive colors, patterns, symbols, emblems, insignia, or other symbolic devices.
FREESTANDING SIGN. Any sign which has supporting framework that is placed on, or anchored in, the ground and which is independent from any building or other structure.
FRONTAGE. The line of contact of a property with the public right-of-way.
GRADE. The final ground elevation after construction. Earth mounding criteria for landscaping and screening is not part of the final grade for sign height computation.
GROUND SIGN. Any freestanding sign with its sign face mounted on the ground or mounted on a base at least as wide as the sign and which has a total height not exceeding eight feet.
HEIGHT OF SIGN. The height of the sign shall be computed as the vertical distance measured from the base of the sign at grade to the top of the highest attached component of the sign.
ILLUMINATED SIGN. Any sign which contains an element designed to emanate artificial light internally or externally.
INCIDENTAL SIGN. A sign, generally informational, that has a purpose secondary to the use of the zone lot on which it is located, such as “no parking”, “entrance”, “loading only,” “telephone,” and other similar directives. No sign with a commercial message legible from a position off the zone lot on which the sign is located shall be considered incidental.
INTERIOR SIGN. A sign which is located within the interior of any building, or within an enclosed lobby or court of any building, and a sign for and located within the inner or outer body, court or entrance of any theater.
ISSUING AUTHORITY. City of Mayer.
LEGALLY ESTABLISHED NONCONFORMING SIGN. Any sign and its support structure lawfully erected prior to the effective date of this subchapter which fails to conform to the requirements of this subchapter. A sign which was erected in accordance with a variance granted prior to the adoption of this subchapter and which does not comply with this subchapter shall be deemed to be a LEGAL NONCONFORMING SIGN.
MARQUEE. Any permanent roof-like structure projecting beyond a building or extending along and projecting beyond the wall of that building, generally designed and constructed to provide protection from the weather.
MARQUEE SIGN. Any building sign painted, mounted, constructed or attached in any manner, on a marquee.
MONUMENT SIGN. Any freestanding sign with its sign face mounted on the ground or mounted on a base at least as wide as the sign and which has a height exceeding eight feet.
MULTIPLE TENANT SITE. Any site which has more than one tenant, and each tenant has a separate ground level exterior public entrance.
NON-COMMERCIAL SPEECH. Dissemination of messages not classified as commercial speech which include, but are not limited to, messages concerning political, religious, social, ideological, public service and informational topics.
OFF-PREMISE SIGN. Any sign that with a message that is related to an establishment, merchandise, service, or entertainments which is not sold produced, manufactured, or furnished at the property on which said sign is located, e.g. billboards, or outdoor advertising.
ON-PREMISE SIGN. A sign which message is related to the premises or the activity and use occurring on the premises on which the sign is located
PARAPET (WALL). That portion of building wall that rises above the roof level.
PENNANT. Any lightweight plastic, fabric, or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire, or string, usually in series, designed to move in the wind.
POLE SIGN. See PYLON SIGN.
PORTABLE SIGN. Any sign which is manifestly designed to be transported, including by trailer or on its own wheels, even though the wheels of such sign may be removed and the remaining chassis or support is converted to another sign or attached temporarily or permanently to the ground since this characteristic is based on the design of such a sign.
PORTE COCHERE. A roofed structure or roof-like cover, extending from the entrance of a building and which provides shelter over a doorway.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING. The building in which the principal primary use of the lot is conducted. Lots with multiple principal uses may have multiple principal buildings, but storage buildings, garages, and other clearly accessory uses shall not be considered PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS.
PROJECTING SIGN. Any sign which is affixed to a building or wall in such a manner that its leading edge extends more than two feet beyond the surface or such building or wall face.
PROPERTY OWNER. Legal owner of property as officially recorded by Carver County.
PUBLIC STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY. The planned right-of-way for a public street.
PYLON SIGN. Any freestanding sign which has its supportive structure(s) anchored in the ground and which has a sign face elevated above ground level by pole(s) or beam(s) and with the area below the sign face open.
READER BOARD SIGN. A sign on which copy is designated so that it can be changed manually. This may include but is not limited to a panel on which individual letters or pictorials are mounted, or displayed.
RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT. Any district zoned for residential uses.
RESIDENTIAL SIGN. Any sign located in a district zoned for residential uses that contains no commercial message except advertising for goods or services legally offered on the premises where the sign is located, if offering such service at such location conforms with all requirements of the zoning ordinance.
ROOF. The exterior surface and its supporting structure on the top of a building or structure, the structural make-up of which conforms to the roof structures, roof construction and roof covering sections of the Uniform Building Code.
ROOF LINE. The upper-most edge of the roof or in the case of an extended facade or parapet, the upper-most height of the facade.
ROOF SIGN. Any sign erected and constructed wholly on and above the roof of a building, supported by the roof structure, and extending vertically above the highest portion of the roof.
ROOF SIGN, INTEGRAL. Any building sign erected or constructed as an integral or essentially integral part of a normal roof structure of any design, so that no part of the sign extends vertically above the highest portion of the roof and so that no part of the sign is separated from the rest of the roof by a space of more than six inches.
ROTATING SIGN. A sign or portion of a sign which turns about on an axis.
SANDWICH BOARD SIGN. A freestanding temporary sign, with no moving parts or flashing lights, no larger than eight square feet total sign size per side (no taller than four feet from grade), displayed outside an establishment during business hours. It is not intended as permanent business signage.
SETBACK, FRONT. The minimum horizontal distance permitted between the public right-of-way and a structure on the premises. In instances in which a property fronts on more than one street, front setbacks are required on all street frontages.
SETBACK, REAR. The minimum horizontal distance permitted between the property line opposite the principal street frontage and a structure on the premises.
SETBACK, SIDE. The minimum horizontal distance permitted between the side lot line and a structure on the premises.
SHIMMERING SIGNS. A sign which reflects an oscillating sometimes distorted visual image.
SIGN. Any device, fixture, placard, or structure that uses any color, form, graphic, illumination, symbol, or writing to advertise, announce the purpose of, or identify the purpose of a person or entity, or to communicate information of any kind to the public, including brackets, supports, and the like.
SIGN FACE. The surface of the sign upon, against, or through which the message of the sign is exhibited.
SIGN STRUCTURE. Any structure including the supports, uprights, bracing and framework which supports or is capable of supporting any sign.
SITE. A plot or parcel of land, or combination of contiguous lots or parcels of land, which are intended, designated, and/or approved to function as an integrated unit.
STRINGER. A line of string, rope, cording, or an equivalent to which is attached a number of pennants.
SUSPENDED SIGN. Any building sign that is suspended from the underside of a horizontal plane surface and is connected to this surface.
TEMPORARY SIGN. Any sign, balloon, banner, blimp, flag, free-standing sign, pennant, poster, reader board, or advertising display which is intended to be displayed for a limited period of time and that is not permanently fixed to the land or a structure. Temporary signs may be constructed of paper, cloth, canvas, cardboard or any other light and nondurable material. Signs other than temporary signs shall be considered permanent signs.
TOTAL SITE SIGNAGE. The maximum permitted combined area of all freestanding and wall identification signs allowed on a specific property.
VISIBLE. Capable of being seen by a person of normal visual acuity (whether legible or not) without visual aid.
WALL. Any structure which defines the exterior boundaries or courts of a building or structure and which has a slope of 60 degrees or greater with the horizontal plane.
WALL SIGN. Any building sign attached parallel to, but within two feet of a wall, painted on the wall surface of, or erected and confined within the limits of an outside wall of any building or structure, which is supported by such wall or building, and which displays only one sign surface.
WINDOW SIGN. Any building sign, pictures, symbol, or combination thereof, designed to communicate information about an activity, business, commodity, event, sale, or service, that is placed inside a window or upon the window panes or glass and is visible from the exterior of the window.
(Ord. 188, passed 4-11-13)