(A) Purpose. This section is adopted to promote and protect the public health, safety, and general welfare by regulating signs of all types. It is intended to protect property values, create a more attractive economic and business climate, enhance and protect the physical appearance of the community and preserve the scenic and natural beauty of certain areas. It is further intended to reduce distractions and obstructions that may contribute to traffic accidents, to reduce hazards which may be created by unsafe signs, and to provide open space.
(B) Signs not requiring permits. The following signs shall conform to all applicable sign regulations of this chapter, except that they do not require an improvement location permit and will not be counted when calculating the quantity of signs permitted or the total allowable sign area for the property or use to which they relate:
(1) Signs identifying the name and address of inhabitants of residential property, which shall be limited in number to one such sign per resident or family and shall not exceed two square feet in area;
(2) No trespassing signs, or other signs regulating the use of property on which they are located, which signs shall not exceed two square feet in area in any residential district or five square feet in area in any non-residential district;
(3) Signs advertising real estate for sale, and similar signs, shall be limited in number to two signs for each property to which they relate and shall not exceed six square feet in area in residential districts or 20 square feet in non-residential districts;
(4) Instructional or directional signs including, but not limited to, on-premises signs related to traffic, parking, or other functional activities, signs identifying restrooms and related or similar facilities, entrance and exit signs, and building functions and services signs;
(5) Signs erected by a unit of government for official purposes;
(6) Memorial signs or tablets and signs denoting the date of erection of buildings which shall not exceed four square feet in area;
(7) Accessory signs incidental to a business or profession conducted on the premises communicating hours of operation, forms of acceptable payment (e.g., credit cards, business affiliations, and the like), wall-mounted at or immediately adjacent to the entrance of the building, not to exceed a combined total of four square feet in area;
(8) Temporary signs in the window of a building, lawfully serving as the location of a business, that do not occupy more than 50% of the area of the window and that are not to be in place more than 30 days;
(9) Construction contractor’s signs, not to exceed one per contractor working on a construction project and not larger than six square feet each, and only during the period of construction;
(10) Temporary signs associated with special events, such as those sponsored by religious, public, or charitable organizations, which shall not exceed 24 square feet in area, posted no more than 14 days prior to the event and removed within 24 hours after the event;
(11) Holiday signs and decorations for no longer than 30 days prior to and 30 days after the date of the holiday to which they relate;
(12) Farm signs identifying crops produced on the premises; and
(13) One subdivision or similar entrance sign, not to exceed 12 square feet in area, at each entrance to a subdivision.
(C) Signs prohibited in all districts. The following signs shall not be permitted in any zoning district:
(1) Signs which have any visible moving parts;
(2) Signs which incorporate in any manner flashing or moving illumination, animation, or illumination which varies in color, except time/temperature signs in the MXD District or any such sign shown on an approved development plan;
(3) Any sign or sign support which constitutes a hazard to public safety or health, including signs which by reason of size, location, content, coloring, manner, or illumination obstruct the vision of a driver or obstruct or detract from the visibility or effectiveness of any traffic control device, or which obstruct free ingress and egress, or which make use of words such as stop, look, one way, danger, yield, or any similar words, phrases, symbols, lights, or characters in such a manner as to interfere with, mislead, or confuse traffic; and
(4) Portable signs.
(D) Commercial and industrial signs. The following signs may be erected on commercial or industrial premises upon issuance of an improvement location permit.
(1) One wall-mounted sign for each principal building or use in a building. Where walls of a building front on more than one street or parking lot, one such sign may be permitted for each of those walls. The area of each wall mounted sign shall not exceed one square foot for each linear foot of the building frontage on which the sign is located.
(2) One free standing sign shall be allowed per lot, the base of the sign shall not be over 15 feet high, with a maximum height of 25 feet. The sign itself shall not be more than 12 feet wide nor more than 12 feet high with a maximum of 100 square feet.
(E) Billboards. Any off-premises sign other than those otherwise specified by this chapter shall be deemed billboards. Billboards are permitted only as follows:
(1) Billboards shall be located no closer than 50 feet to the right-of-way line of any street;
(2) Billboards shall not be permitted within 500 feet of a residential zoning district;
(3) Billboards shall be spaced no closer than 1,000 feet apart;
(4) Billboards shall be no taller than 15 feet in height, and they shall be no larger than 300 square feet in area; and
(5) Billboards shall not contain any moving or changing parts or text and shall contain no flashing lights.
(Ord. passed - -1989; Ord. 2014-5, passed 5-5-2014) Penalty, see § 153.99