A. Intent: The following regulations provide standards for the erection and maintenance of on premises signs. The principal feature of this section is the regulation on the total sign area permissible per site. All signs shall be erected and maintained in accordance with the following standards.
B. Sign Messages: Subject to the property owner's consent, a noncommercial message of any type may be substituted for any duly permitted or allowed noncommercial message; provided that the sign structure or mounting device is lawful without consideration of the message's content. Such substitution of message may be made without any additional approval or permitting. This provision prevails over any provision to the contrary in this chapter. The purpose of this provision is to prevent any inadvertent favoring of a commercial message over a noncommercial message, or favoring of any particular noncommercial message over any other noncommercial message. This provision does not create a right to increase the total amount of signage on a parcel, nor does it affect the requirement that a sign structure or mounting device be properly permitted.
C. Noncommercial Messages: All noncommercial messages are considered on premises signs and are entitled to the privileges that on premises signs receive under this chapter. Noncommercial messages are messages not classified as commercial messages; which include, but are not limited to, messages concerning political, religious, social, ideological, public service and informational topics. Commercial messages are speech or graphics advertising a business, enterprise, provision, commodity, service or entertainment.
D. On Premises Signage Review Overlay District:
1. This district is to provide developing and redeveloping areas in the highway oriented business district (HB), neighborhood shopping district (NS), transportation, warehousing, and commercial district (TWC), and industrial district (I) located in the identified on premises signage review overlay district standards for placement of on premises freestanding signs. The boundaries of this district are shown upon an exhibit adopted with these provisions.
2. On premises freestanding signs shall not exceed a height of forty five feet (45') with the exception of on premises freestanding signs placed in the designated on premises signage review overlay district. On premises freestanding signs in this district shall not exceed a height that exceeds the elevation of one thousand four hundred feet (1,400') according to the United States geodetic survey. (Ord. 2422, 1-21-2013)