Signs shall be defined with regard to the type of message conveyed, design, size, location, or the method of mounting, as follows:
(1) ABANDONED SIGN: A sign which no longer identifies or advertises a bona fide business, lessor, owner, product, or activity, or for which no legal owner can be found.
(2) ADVERTISING SIGN: See BILLBOARD.
(3) ANIMATED SIGN: A sign or display manifesting either movement or the illusion of movement occasioned by natural, manual, mechanical, electrical, or other means.
(4) ANNOUNCEMENT SIGN: A sign of a temporary character indicating attractions or events being or to be, conducted upon the premises of a public or semipublic institution where such sign is located.
(5) AREA: See SIGN, AREA OF.
(6) AWNING SIGN: A sign painted on, printed on, or attached flat against the surface of an awning.
(7) BANNER SIGN: A sign made of fabric or any non-rigid material that is not enclosed in a framework.
(8) BILLBOARD: A sign directing attention to a specific business, product, service, entertainment, or other activity which is sold, offered or conducted elsewhere than upon the premises where the sign is located.
(9) BULLETIN BOARD SIGN: A sign of permanent character with movable letters, words, or numbers indicating names of persons associated with, or events conducted upon, the premises of a public or semipublic institution where such sign is located.
(10) BUSINESS SIGN: A sign directing attention to a business, service, commodity, or entertainment which is conducted or sold on the premises, or the name and/or address of the owners or management thereof.
(11) CANOPY: A multi-sided support structure covered with fabric, metal, or other material and supported by a building at one or more points and/or by columns or posts at other points.
(12) CANOPY SIGN: A sign affixed or applied to the exterior surface of a canopy or awning.
(13) CHANGEABLE COPY SIGN: A sign whose informational content can be changed or altered by manual, electric, electro-mechanical, or electronic means.
(14) CLEAR VIEW ZONE: An area formed by the intersecting right-of-way lines and a line connecting points on such lines fifty feet back from each intersection at corner lots. (See illustration in Section 1274.04)
(15) CONSTRUCTION SIGN: A temporary sign identifying (a) an architect, developer, contractor, subcontractor, and/or material supplier participating in construction on the property on which the sign is located, and/or (b) the name and/or ownership of a project or subdivision.
(16) COPY: The graphic content of a sign surface in letter, pictographic, symbolic, or alphabetic form.
(17) DEVELOPMENT SIGN: A sign or signs indicating the name and/or ownership of a project or subdivision.
(18) DIRECTIONAL SIGNS: An on-premises sign giving directions or instructions and which may contain the logo or name of an establishment, but no advertising copy. Examples are signs designating entrances or exits, parking areas, etc.
(19) DOUBLE-FACED SIGN: A sign with two faces, essentially two signs attached to each other back-to-back.
(20) FACADE: The entire building front, including any parapet.
(21) FLASHING SIGN: Any illuminated sign which exhibits changing lights or color effects. This includes electronically controlled informational signs.
(22) FREE-STANDING SIGN: A sign supported permanently upon the ground by poles, braces or structures and not attached to any building.
(23) FRONTAGE: The portion of the boundary of a lot which is defined as the “front lot line”. (See also Section 1204.03(b)(71).)
(24) FRONTAGE, BUILDING: The length of an outside wall or walls of the primary building frontage (e.g., where the primary entrance is located) facing a public right of-way.
(25) GOVERNMENT SIGN: A temporary or permanent sign erected and maintained by the City, County, State or Federal Government for traffic direction, or for identifying or directing the way to any school, hospital, historical site or public service, property or facility.
(26) GROUND SIGN: A sign whose horizontal dimension is equal to or greater than its height and whose lowest main horizontal structural member is two feet or less from the ground or has a supporting base resting totally or primarily on the ground.
(27) HEIGHT (OF A SIGN): The vertical distance measured from the highest point of the sign, excluding reasonably-sized decorative embellishments, to the grade of the adjacent street or the surface grade beneath the sign, whichever is less. If a sign is placed on a purposely-raised soil or other surface, such as a mound, the Architectural Board of Review shall define the height measurement method for the specific case.
(28) IDENTIFICATION SIGN: A sign whose copy is limited to the name and address of a building, institution, or person and/or to the designation of an activity or occupation. The listing of numerous goods or services, prices, sale items or telephone numbers on such a sign shall not be permitted.
(29) ILLUMINATED SIGN: A sign with an artificial light source incorporated internally or externally for the purpose of illuminating the sign.
A. External illumination means illumination directed upon the copy or message from outside.
B. Internal illumination means illumination from within the sign structure, behind the copy.
(30) INCIDENTAL SIGN: A small sign, emblem, or decal informing the public of such matters as credit cards accepted, a sign indicating hours of business, or a sign indicating the exit or entrance. Such signs shall not be counted in the total allowable sign area .
(31) INFORMATIONAL SIGN: A sign which presents miscellaneous information to the public rather than promoting a business, industrial product, or political issue. Typical information signs present information concerning scheduled public events tourist information, the weather, the time, and historic and scenic data.
(32) INTEGRAL SIGN OR MONUMENT: A sign indicating the name of a building, the date of its erection, etc., or a commemorative tablet or the like, when that sign or tablet is carved into stone, concrete or similar material or when it is made of bronze, aluminum or other permanent type material and when, in either case, the sign is made an integral part of the structure.
(33) MARQUEE SIGN: A sign, other than a projecting sign, mounted on the marquee of a building.
(34) MOBILE SIGN: A sign on wheels, casters, parked trailers, parked vehicles, or other mobile devices.
(35) MONUMENT: See INTEGRAL SIGN.
(36) NAMEPLATE SIGN: A non-electric sign giving only the name and address of an occupant on the premises where the sign is located.
(37) NONCONFORMING SIGN: A sign which may have been erected legally, but which does not comply with current sign restrictions and regulations.
(38) PAINTED WALL SIGN: Any sign which is applied with paint or similar substance on the surface of a wall.
(39) POLE SIGN: A sign supported wholly by a pole, poles, or upright columns and whose lowest horizontal structural member is higher from the ground than defined for ground and pylon signs.
(40) POLITICAL SIGN: A temporary sign expressing a political opinion, typically one used in connection with a local, County, State or national election or referendum.
(41) PORTABLE SIGN: Any sign designed to be moved easily and not permanently affixed to the ground or to a structure or building.
(42) PROJECTING SIGN: A sign erected approximately perpendicular to the wall of a building and projecting into an open space or required yard.
(43) PYLON SIGN: A sign whose vertical dimension is greater than its horizontal dimension and which has a supporting base resting totally or primarily on the ground or whose lowest main horizontal structural member is two feet or less from the ground.
(44) REAL ESTATE SIGN: A temporary sign advertising the sale, lease, or rental of the premises upon which the sign is located.
(45) REAL-ESTATE OPEN-HOUSE SIGN: A temporary sign indicating that a dwelling is open for inspection, with sales persons or owners present in the dwelling.
(46) ROOF SIGN: A sign erected on the roof of a building or extending above the lower horizontal edge of the roof line.
(47) SECURITY SIGN: A sign indicating that the property is protected by a security surveillance system of any nature.
(48) SIGN: See Section 1204.03(115).
(Ord. 75-2005. Passed 10-11-05.)
(49) SIGN, AREA OF:
A. Wall sign.
1. When a sign is framed or when a surface is outlined, painted or otherwise prepared and intended to provide a background for a sign display, the area or dimensions shall include the entire portion within such background or frame.
2. In contrast to the previous condition, when a sign is comprised of individual letters, figures, or elements attached directly to a wall or similar surface of a building, the area of the sign shall be the minimum area encompassed by a combination of connecting rectangles or rectangular boxes that form or approximate the perimeter of all the elements in the display. When separate elements or letters are organized to form a single sign of words or acronyms, but the elements are separated by open space, the rectangular boxes, and thus the area, shall include the space between the elements.
B. Projecting or free-standing sign.
1. A double-faced free-standing or projecting sign shall have only one side counted in calculating its area. The area shall be that within a rectilinear shape of not more than six sides that represents the perimeter of and encloses the total structure area containing the copy.
2. The sign area shall include the frame but shall not include the pole or other structural support, unless:
a. Such pole or structural support is illuminated or designed to constitute a display device, in which case its area shall be included; or
b. The face area of such supports and/or trim exceeds twenty- five percent of the sign face area, in which case the sign face area shall be reduced in size by the amount of the excess.
C. In the event there is a dispute in determining the sign area or a sign dimension, the Architectural Board of Review shall have the final authority for making such determination.
(50) TEMPORARY SIGN: A sign not constructed or intended for long term use.
(51) VEHICLE SIGN: A sign placed on a vehicle or trailer when the vehicle is parked or located for the primary purpose of displaying said sign.
(52) WALL SIGN: A sign painted on the wall of a building or attached to the wall as individual letters or figures, or a sign included in a structure erected against the wall of a building with the exposed face in a plane approximately parallel with the face of such wall.
(53) WINDOW SIGN:
A. A sign painted on or attached or affixed to any window or door of a building and intended to be viewed from either outside or inside of such building; or
B. Any sign placed near a window for the purpose of being visible to and read from the outside of the building.
(Ord. 24-97. Passed 10-14-97.)