(A) Findings. The City Council hereby finds as follows.
(1) Signs provide an important medium through which individuals may convey a variety of messages.
(2) Exterior signs have a substantial impact on the character and quality of the environment.
(3) Signs can create traffic hazards, aesthetic concerns, and detriment to property values, thereby threatening the public health, safety, and welfare.
(4) The city's zoning regulations include the regulation of signs in an effort to provide adequate means of expression and to promote the economic viability of the business community, while protecting the city and its citizens from a proliferation of signs of a type, size, location, and character that would adversely impact the aesthetics of the community and threaten its health, safety, and welfare. The regulation of the physical characteristics of signs within the city has a positive impact on traffic safety and the appearance of the community.
(B) Purpose and intent. It is not the purpose or intent of this section to regulate the message displayed on any sign, except as provided for in § 153.092(B)(10), nor is it the purpose or intent of this section to regulate any building design or any display not defined as a sign, or any sign which cannot be viewed from outside a building. The purpose and intent of this section is to:
(1) Regulate the number, location, size, type, illumination, and other physical characteristics of signs within the city in order to promote the public health, safety, and welfare;
(2) Maintain, enhance, and improve the aesthetic environment of the city by preventing visual clutter that is harmful to the appearance of the community;
(3) Improve the visual appearance of the city while providing for effective means of communication, consistent with constitutional guarantees and the city's goals of public safety and aesthetic; and
(4) Provide for fair and consistent enforcement of the sign regulations set forth herein under the zoning authority of the city.
(C) Effect. A sign may be erected, mounted, displayed, or maintained in the city if it is in conformance with the provisions of these regulations. The effect of this section, as more specifically set forth herein, is to:
(1) Allow a wide variety of sign types in non-residential zones, and a more limited variety of signs in residential zones, subject to the standards set forth in this subchapter;
(2) Allow certain small, unobtrusive signs incidental to the principal use of a site in all zones when in compliance with the requirements of this subchapter or when required by federal, state, or local law;
(3) Prohibit signs whose location, size, type, illumination, or other physical characteristics negatively affect the environment and where the communication can be accomplished by means having a lesser impact on the environment and the public health, safety, and welfare; and
(4) Provide for the enforcement of the provisions of this subchapter.
(D) Effective date. Sections 153.090 through 153.094 shall take effect and be in force from and after January 1, 2019.
(Ord. 2018-4, passed 8-13-2018)