(A) General. All owners and property managers shall keep signs in good condition and repair and free from peeling paint, rust, damaged or rotted support, framework or other materials, broken or missing faces or missing letters. When any sign becomes insecure, in danger of falling, or is otherwise deemed unsafe or a nuisance by a city inspector, or if any sign shall have been unlawfully installed, erected or maintained in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, the owner or firm using the sign shall, upon written notice by the city inspector, make the sign conform to the provisions of this chapter or shall remove the sign within ten days. If the sign owner, user or responsible party has not corrected the violation within ten days, the city inspector may remove or cause the sign to be removed at the expense of the owner or user of the sign.
(B) Obsolete sign copy. The owner or user of any property or sign that has any sign copy that no longer advertises or identifies a use conducted on the property on which the sign is located must cover or remove the sign copy within 30 days after written notification from the city inspector. The city considers such a sign to be a nuisance sign.
(C) Paint. The owner or user of any structure from which he or she has moved or removed a sign shall repair and/or paint the structure with colors and materials to match the existing background.
(D) Sign permit not required. Activities considered to be normal maintenance and repair shall not require a sign or building permit from the city. The activities shall include replacing or repairing lamps, ballasts, transformers, trim, sign fasteners, nuts or washers; painting the pole or supports of free-standing signs; and painting the cabinet of the free-standing signs or building signs.
(E) Sign permit required. For any sign that initially required a permit, the city requires a permit for all of the following additional activities (the city does not consider such activities as normal maintenance):
(1) Refacing a sign, except for the text on a manual changeable message sign;
(2) Removing the sign for the repair of the cabinet or any part thereof;
(3) Changes made to a sign’s size, illumination or electrical service, including, but not limited to, height, width, weight, area, adding or removing illumination; and
(4) Changes to poles, structural supports, bases or shrouds, footings or anchor bolts, moving the sign to a new location, or replacement of the interior or exterior cabinet frame, except the sign face.
(F) Building permit. The city also will require a building permit for signs or sign repair that involves the construction of, or changes to, a sign, a sign structure, billboards and/or electrical connections. All signs using electricity shall be subject to the state’s current Electrical Code. The contractor shall bury or conceal all electrical wiring for the signs.
(G) Inspection authority. All signs are subject to inspection by the Building Official or his or her designee, who the city authorizes to enter any property or premises to determine if the provisions of this chapter are being met. The inspector or city staff person shall make such an entrance or inspection during regular business hours, unless there is an emergency.
(H) Signs in disrepair. The Building Official or his or her designee may order the removal of any sign that the owner or the responsible party is not maintaining according to the provisions of this chapter. Upon failure to meet the requirements of a correction notice in the specified time in such an order, the City Council may declare the sign to be a public nuisance, may have it removed and impounded and assess the cost of the removal to the sign owner or to the property owner.
(I) Impoundment of signs on public property or within public right-of-way. The City Administrator or his or her designee may, at any time and without notice, remove and impound signs that have been installed on public property, within a public right-of-way, or within a public easement that are in violation of this chapter. The sign owner or his or her agent may retrieve an impounded sign subject to the following rules:
(1) Any impounded sign may be retrieved from the impound area within five business days of the impoundment or the City Administrator or his or her designee may dispose of it. The impound area can be located by contacting City Hall. Any cost incurred by the city for disposal of an impounded sign may be assessed to the sign owner or the sign owner’s agent.
(2) The city shall have no obligation to notify a property owner or sign owner or his or her agent that it has impounded a sign.
(3) The city shall not be held liable for any damage to an impounded sign.
(Prior Code, § 1008.081) (Ord. 679, passed 05-29-2001; Ord. 816, passed 01-22-2009; Ord. 847, passed 10-21-2010)